GREENVILLE, S.C.- The outcome looked bleak for Appalachian State University women's basketball Monday,as the Apps were down by four points with under three minutes to play, but the Mountaineers came up big when it counted and were able to eek out a 58-53 victory Monday evening at Furman's Timmons Arena. The win is the Black and Gold's fifth straight, and improves ASU to 12-9 overall and 8-4 in conference action, while Furman drops to 6-17 on the season and 4-10 in the SoCon.

In a back and forth affair, it was the final minute that changed the contest for Appalachian, as Sam Ramirez connected on a three-pointer off an out-of-bounds play to pull the Apps back within one point at 53-52 with 58.9 seconds remaining. Freshman Kelsey Sharkey stepped up as well, stealing the ball in Furman's backcourt and hitting the ensuing layup to give the Mountaineers a 54-53 advantage.

Ramirez had yet another stellar offensive outing as she finished tied with Lee Stephens for a game-high 16 points, to go along with six boards.

Keeping with its strong defensive effort, Furman came up empty on its next offensive possession and four final made free throws by Ramirez and Anna Freeman, coupled with a monster Freeman block on a Stephens' shot with 9.4 seconds to play, pushed the Black and Gold to the thrilling win.

Freshman Ashlen Dewart got Appalachian off to a strong start in the first half, drilling the Apps' first five points, but Stephens answered for the Paladins with two treys of her own just three and a half minutes into the contest.

The first half was tied five more times, before a 4-0 Appalachian streak to close out the period, with buckets by Courtney Freeman and Catherine Williams earned ASU the 26-24 lead heading into intermission.

After holding what seemed to be a strong eight point cushion at 38-30 with just under fifteen minutes on the clock, the Paladins went on a run of their own, scoring 10 unanswered points with Kali Holfreter pacing Furman during the streak with five points to earn FU the two point lead.

Fortunately, the Black and Gold had an answer at the end of the game, and were able to sneak past the Paladins, to remain undefeated on the road against Southern Conference opponents.

ASU looks to continue with its winning ways, as the Apps travel to Elon, N.C. to face the Phoenix on Saturday February 6 with the tip off set for 2 p.m. in Alumni Gym.

Notes: The eight SoCon wins surpasses the total number of conference wins from a season ago ... the 12 wins are the most in a season for the Black and Gold since the 2006-07 campaign (13-18) ... the five game winning streak is the longest since 2005-06 ... the win over Furman is ASU's first over the Paladins since March 5, 2009 ... Appalachian is now tied for fourth in the league standings with Davidson ... Darcie Vincent coached teams are 3-2 against Furman ... the six SoCon road wins are the most since winning seven during the 1995-96 season.