JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- East Tennessee State snapped a two-game losing streak Saturday afternoon with a 81-74 victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers from Memorial Center.

The Lady Bucs (5-18, 5-9 SoCon) led 39-33 after the first half. ETSU never trailed and held double-digit leads on five occasions in the half. Appalachian State (4-19, 2-12) was held 36 percent (12-33) from the field and the Lady Bucs came up with seven first-half steals.

The Mountaineers stormed out of the locker room on a 10-0 run to begin the second half, taking a four point lead, 43-39 with 17:22 remaining in the half. Appalachian State held a small advantage over ETSU for most of the second half until the Lady Bucs went on a 12-0 run over 4:11 from the 8:34 mark to the 4:23 mark of the second stanza. The final shot of that run was a long three-pointer by sophomore Samantha Copeland that gave the Lady Bucs an eight-point lead at 70-62 that they would not relinquish. Junior guard Erin Thurman led the Lady Buc charge with seven points in that span.

"I just felt good and I thought that I had to step up in the second half," said Thurman following the game. "Erin always seems to hit a big bucket," said ETSU Head Coach Karen Kemp. "(Samantha) Copeland's three was a big shot for us as well."

The Lady Bucs were led by freshman guard Racquel Ellis who tallied a career-high 19 points on 7-10 shooting. Thurman (17), sophomore forward Misty Copas (11) and freshman forward Lauren Trantham (10) also scored in double-digits for ETSU. Junior forward Megan Jackson had a team-high 11 rebounds for the Lady Bucs and Thurman was the team leader in assists with four.

Appalachian State was led by forward Natasha Lettsome, who registered her seventh double-double of the season with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Mountaineer guard Lauren Romano hit five three-pointers on the day to finish with 15 points. Center Jamie Gagliano (15) and guard Aisha Bryant (11) also scored in double-digits for Appalachian State.

The Lady Bucs now play two consecutive games on the road, at College of Charleston on Monday, February 12 at 7:00 p.m. and at Western Carolina at 4:00 on Saturday, February 17. Their next home game is the final home game of the season against the UNC Greensboro Spartans on Monday, February 19 at 7:00 p.m. "Going on the road, we needed this win to get some momentum going into Charleston," said Coach Kemp.

Appalachian State returns to action as they play Davidson at home on Tuesday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m.