BOONE, N.C. – Claire Chastain scored a game-high 21 points to lead UTA to an 82-60 road win over Sun Belt foe and reigning Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) champs App State on Thursday night at the Holmes Convocation Center.
With the win, the Lady Mavs improve to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in the league, while the Mountaineers fall to 3-11 on the season and 0-3 in the SBC. UTA is now in a tie with Troy at the top of the Sun Belt standings.
UTA shot 54.1 percent (33-of-61) on the evening, while App State made 20 of their 50 shot attempts (40.0 percent). The Lady Mavs knocked down a season-high 11 triples, marking the first time this year that they have knocked down double digit three-pointers. The Lady Mavs also forced Appalachian State into 18 turnovers on the night and converted those miscues into 17 points.
Chastain shot 8-of-12 from the floor and knocked down five triples to finish with her game-high 21 points. She also added three steals, two boards, two blocks and two assists.
Marie Benson overcame some early foul trouble to register 16 points in 22 minutes.
Katie Mayhue finished with a season-high 14 points, while
Emma Halverson added 11 points and five rebounds.
Terryn Milton dished out a career-high 10 assists, which also rank her t-9th in program history for assists in a single-game.
The Lady Mavs opened the game with a 13-2 run, highlighted by a layup and a pair of triples from Chastain. A layup by App State cut the UTA lead to single digits (13-4) with 6:12 left in the period. The Lady Mavericks responded by outscoring the Mountaineers 21-10 over the final 6:12 of the quarter to take a 34-14 lead after 10 minutes of action. UTA's 34 points tied a program record for points in a quarter.
Chastain was perfect in the first period, scoring 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from long distance. UTA shot 65 percent (13-of-20) from the floor, including 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from behind the arc in the opening frame. The Lady Mavs took care of the rock in the opening period, committing zero turnovers, while App State committed seven miscues.
UTA's hot start cooled off in the second quarter, as the Lady Mavs were outscored 20-11 in the frame and took an 11-point lead in to the locker room at the intermission. UTA shot 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from the field in the second quarter.
Leading 48-40 (6:44) in the third quarter, the Lady Mavs used an 11-2 run to push their lead to 17 points (59-42) heading into the fourth quarter and never looked back.
UTA will be back in action on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 11) when they travel to Conway, S.C. to take on Coastal Carolina (12-2, 2-1 SBC). Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CT.
