Lady Eagles Fall Cold in Final Minutes Against Cougars

STATESBORO, Ga. - With a four-point lead heading into the final 3:46, the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles went cold and fell 47-44 after the College of Charleston Cougars finished with a 7-0 run. Charleston overcame 14-for-51 shooting with 13 second chance points on 44 rebounds to pick up their fifth Southern Conference victory.

"We had a chance to close it out but instead we let it get away from us," said Head Coach Rusty Cram. "We put them on the free throw line in the second half and they pulled down 21 offensive rebounds. We did not play physical, and they pounded the offensive glass."

Georgia Southern (7-13, 3-8) shot 31.3% from the floor and tallied four three-pointers but went to the line just 15 times compared to the Cougars' 29 trips. MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) snapped a streak of two-straight games without a double-digit scorer by notching 10 points. Janay Wilson (Warner Robins, Ga.) went to the charity stripe four times and finished with six points.

"We need somebody to step up, take charge of this team and be a go-to player on offense. Defensively we feel we can play with just about anybody but how long can you ride that?" ask Cram. "We have got to continue to fight and start putting away ball games."

Megan Fischer led the College of Charleston (6-15, 5-7) with 13 points on five-for-seven shooting from the free throw line. Latisha Harris propelled the Cougars, who outscored GSU 31-26 in the second half, to their nine rebound advantage with eight boards and 11 points.

Lacie Dowling's (Nahunta, Ga.) second trey of the season came at the right time, sparking an 8-0 run in the middle of the second half. Capped by a three from DuBose, the run erased a one-point deficit and put Georgia Southern ahead 41-34 with 6:59 to play; however, over the final five minutes the Lady Eagles were held to just three points and missed six shots in the last three minutes.

Georgia Southern led 18-16 at the halftime break after holding the College of Charleston to just 18.5% shooting in the first half. The Lady Eagles went 6-for-17 from the field and eight different members scored points in the period; however, none tallied more than the three points DuBose and Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) tallied. Latisha Harris led the Cougars, who recorded 10 more field goal attempts than GSU, with four points.

Georgia Southern jumped ahead 7-1 to open the contest before a 9-2 run by the College of Charleston that lasted over seven minutes erased the six-point lead. A free throw from Aishya Wofford (Augusta, Ga.) and back-to-back baskets by Tashayla Steede (Marietta, Ga.) and Anna Claire Knight (Dublin, Ga.) put the Lady Eagles back on top 14-10 with 3:15 to play.

The Cougars retook the lead less than two minutes into the second half and maintained a four-point advantage with 15:42 to play after a 12-4 run to open the period. Four free throws from Alexis Hicks over a minute stretch gave the College of Charleston their largest lead of the game. Georgia Southern quickly erased the five-point deficit with six unanswered points over a two-minute stretch.

After just a day's break, the Lady Eagles travel to Wofford Monday to conclude the regular-season series. Tip-off from Benjamin Johnson Arena is set for 4 p.m.

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Category: Women's Basketball

Published on Saturday, 28 January 2012 18:43