Women's Basketball Comeback Bid at CofC Falls Short
CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston's Latisha Harris hit a go-ahead lay-up from the left side with 33.3 seconds left, while Georgia Southern's MiMi DuBose had a left-handed runner roll off the rim as the buzzer sounded, and the Cougars hung on to beat the Eagles 58-56 in Southern Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in TD Arena.
The Eagles (1-11, 0-3 SoCon) overcame a 19-point second-half deficit and took a 56-55 lead on a DuBose driving lay-in with 45 seconds remaining. Harris' basket put the Cougars (7-5, 3-0 SoCon) back in front, and DuBose was whistled for an offensive foul while trying to drive baseline on the Eagles' trip down the floor.
GSU fouled Jillian Brown, who made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line with 6.7 seconds left. The Eagles got the ball to DuBose on the left wing and she drove to the basket and tried the runner as the help defense slid over.
With the Eagles trailing by 13 after a Harris layup with 4:04 to go, Meredyth Frye hit a layup and followed it with a pair of free throws on GSU's next possession to ignite a 14-0 run. DuBose got into the act and scored the last 10 of the spurt to give the Eagles a brief lead.
"I'm proud of the way we battled back in the second half and of our composure on offense when the game was on the line," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "I thought MiMi had a great look at the end of the game, and it just didn't go down. What is disappointing is our lack of intensity and fight in the first half, which contributed to us getting into such a deep hole."
DuBose finished with a career-high 27 points, including 20 in the second half after being saddled with foul trouble and playing eight minutes in the first period. Frye added season highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Alexis Sams scored eight. Anna Claire Knight had a career-high 15 boards.
Harris finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for College of Charleston, and Cathryn Hardy posted 11 points and nine rebounds. Brown finished with 11 assists, while Deidre Ramer and Alyssa Frye each scored eight.
With the Eagles leading 7-5 early in the game, the Cougars went on a 13-2 run to take control of the contest. Hardy and Megan Fischer each scored four points in the spurt, and Fischer's two free throws gave CofC an 18-9 lead with 11:58 left in the half.
After a conventional 3-point play by Frye cut the margin to 23-15, the Cougars outscored the Eagles 9-2 for the rest of the period. The Eagles went 1-for-8 from the floor and committed six turnovers to finish the half. CofC scored the first two buckets of the second half to open the 19-point cushion.
The contest capped a six-game road trip for the Eagles, who return to action Monday against Western Carolina. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
- Category: Women's Basketball
- Published on Saturday, 05 January 2013 17:20
