College of Charleston (6-17, 5-9 SoCon) vs. Appalachian State (17-3, 11-1 SoCon)
Game #24
February 6, 2012, 7:00 p.m. (ET)
TD Arena (5,100)
Charleston, S.C.
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston women's basketball has a difficult test as they take on the No. 1 team in the Southern Conference standings, the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Monday at 7 p.m. at TD Arena.
OPENING TIP
The Cougars held Davidson to just 25.9 percent shooting and held preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Sophia Aleksanddravicius to just one point, but fell 23-46 against the Wildcats on Saturday. The Cougars forced Davidson into 18 turnovers, but committed 20 themselves in the game. CofC continues a difficult stretch against Appalachian State, the No. 1 team in the current Southern Conference standings. These teams previously met earlier this season in Boone, N.C., a game in which Appalachian State won 71-52. The Cougars will look to get back on track before they hit the road to take on Chattanooga and Samford this weekend.
THE COACHES
College of Charleston
Nancy Wilson
Career Record: 541-359 (30th year)
CofC Record: 310-210 (17th year)
Appalachian State
Darcie Vincent
Career Record: 338-145 (16th)
ASU Record: 74-44 (4th)
THE SERIES
Appalachian State leads the all-time series 19-16.
LAST TIME VS. APPALACHIAN STATE
The Cougars last played Appalachian State on the road on December 19. Junior Megan Fischer led the way with 14 points and Deidre Ramer added a career-high 13 points for the Cougars. Courtney Freeman was the catalyst for the Mountaineers as she scored 22 points en route to a 71-52 Appalachian State victory. The Mountaineers scored 30 points in the paint and held a 22-13 advantage in point off of turnovers as they forced the Cougars into 28 turnovers, while committing 17 themselves. The Cougars registered 11 steals and six blocks in the game.
WINNING WITH WILSON
College of Charleston head coach Nancy Wilson will retire after this season as the winningest women's basketball coach at the College. Wilson is in her 30th year overall and 17th at the College of Charleston. Wilson has won 310 games at CofC and 541 for her career.
4 IN DOUBLE DIGITS
In the Cougars game, vs. Central Michigan four players scored in double-figures, led by junior Megan Fischer with 14 points and nine rebounds. Also scoring in double-figures were Cathryn Hardy (13), Christy Hewatt (11) and Latisha Harris (11).
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Junior Latisha Harris has recorded a SoCon high six double-doubles on the season, her most recent coming against Elon with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
DOUBLE DIGIT SCORING
The Cougars have had at least one player score in double-figures in 12 of their last 13 games. In six of the 13 games multiple players have scored in double-figures. Junior Latisha Harris has the most double-digit games in that stretch, scoring at least 10 points in eight of the 13 games.
SWEET 16
Down 13-3 early in the game vs. Samford, the Cougars came back in a hurry as they went on a 16-0 run sparked by three 3-point field goals (Hardy, Hewatt and Brown), a bucket and a foul (Hardy), two more free-throws (Hardy) and a layup (Harris), to go up 19-13.
DEFENDING THE THREE
The Cougars rank 21st in NCAA DI women's basketball in 3-point FG defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 26.4 percent (106-398).
RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
The Cougars have had several record breaking performances and top-10 marks this season. In addition to the team record of 15 blocks, in the win over Wofford junior Latisha Harris grabbed 19 rebounds, second most all-time in a single-game. In the same game junior Cathryn Hardy tied the third best mark for free-throws in a game with 13 and tied the second best mark for free-throws attempted in a game with 15.
SHOWING IMPROVEMENT
The Cougars have shown improvement in several categories over their last 13 games.
First 10 games ..............Last 13 games
44.2......................PPG............................48.2
.289......................FG%.......................... .309
6.8....................Assists/g........................9.8
25.9......................TOs/g.........................18.8
-4.1..............Rebound Margin...............+2.9
IMPROVEMENT
With several players lost from last year many athletes are stepping up this year.
Player Points Last Year Points This Year
Harris 139 (29 games) 197 (23 games)
Hardy 143 (30 games) 178 (23 games)
Brown 64 (30 games) 79 (23 games)
Hicks 8 (18 games) 32 (8 games)
DISHING EM OUT
Sophomore point guard Jillian Brown plays the most minutes on the team and is a key to the Cougar offense. This season she has recorded six or more assists in eight games, including two 10 assist games (vs. Wingate-1/2 and at Wofford-1/21) Brown ranks fourth in the Southern Conference in assists per game at 4.1.
GET THE INSIDE LOOK
Follow the Cougars all season long on facebook (College of Charleston Women's Basketball) and twitter (@CofCWBasketball) for an inside look into the program. Get live updates, pictures, video and more. Fans can also submit question to head coach Nancy Wilson using the hashtag #askcoachwilson and she will answer questions throughout the year via facebook and twitter.
