Women’s Basketball Moves on in SoCon Tournament, Tops Western Carolina 68-51

Box score (PDF) | VIDEO: Postgame press conference

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Meredyth Frye collected 22 points, six rebounds and three steals to lead Georgia Southern to a 68-51 women's basketball victory over Western Carolina in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament Friday afternoon in Kimmel Arena.

The eighth-seeded Eagles advance to take on top seed Chattanooga Saturday at noon.

Frye was 6-of-11 from the floor, hit three 3-pointers and made 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.

“I really felt in rhythm with my shots all game, and I just kept taking what was open,” said Frye.

Anna Claire Knight tallied 16 points and four assists for the Eagles (8-22), and MiMi Dubose scored seven points and matched a career high with eight rebounds. Alexis Sams and Ronnesha Smith each scored seven.

Lindsay Simpson led Western Carolina (7-23) with 14 points, and Kristen Lyon scored 10.

After Georgia Southern took a 13-point lead on a Smith jumper with 7:02 left, Western Carolina’s Erika Joseph scored four straight points in a 6-0 run to trim the margin to seven points with just over five minutes to go.

Frye hit a pair of free throws for GSU, and the teams traded baskets over the next two minutes as the Catamounts kept cutting the margin to seven and Georgia Southern kept pushing it back to nine.

DuBose hit a layup for GSU to make the score 58-49 with 2:12 to play, and after the Eagles got a defensive stop, Knight scored on a layup to push the margin to 11. The Eagles got another stop, forcing Western Carolina to foul. Knight and Sams each went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe inside the last minute to seal the victory.

“We’ve been working hard at staying in the moment, and I think that has showed over the last few games,” said GSU coach Chris Vozab. “Our kids came out with great focus and purpose and emotional energy and played how we want Georgia Southern basketball to play.”

Clinging to a one-point lead midway through the first half, the Eagles used a 12-2 run to open a 26-15 cushion with 3:03 remaining. Knight and Danielle Spencer led the charge with four points each.

After Simpson hit a 3-pointer for Western Carolina, Jordi Cook answered with a step-back triple from the wing. Simpson got a jumper to go with 1:42 to play, and the Eagles went into the locker room with a 29-20 advantage. GSU scored five straight points midway through the second half to push an eight-point lead advantage to 13.

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 Friday, 08 March 2013 14:32