Lady Eagles Pick up First Win at Stetson

DELAND, Fla. – Seniors Shawnda Atwood and Chequilla Jessie scored a team-high 12 points each to lead the Georgia Southern women’s basketball team to a 67-51 non-conference victory at Stetson, Sunday afternoon (Nov. 11) at Edmunds Center in DeLand, Fla.

The Lady Eagles improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Hatters fall to 0-2 overall, giving Georgia Southern a 21-9 all-time series advantage since 1980.

Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) led the team with 10 rebounds contributing to her first double-double of the season and fourth of her career.  Jessie (Sanford, Fla.) pulled down nine rebounds while Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) had a strong performance with nine points and eight rebounds.  Junior Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) scored 10 points shooting 4-of-5 from the field.

Stetson was led by Kellie Olson with 14 points, followed by Jessica Conner with 11 points and nine rebounds.

“It’s always great to get that first win, just because it relaxes everybody,” said head coach Rusty Cram.  “When you start the season this early, everybody’s looking for that win because you know how important that is, to get that under your belt, especially on the road.  You can tell that for the kids it’s almost like a sigh of relief.  So now we pick it up and go with it.”

In first-half action, the Hatters were the first to put points on the scoreboard as Ayesha Barkley hit a pair of buckets to put the Hatters ahead 4-0.  But key Georgia Southern steals and rebounds helped spur a 7-0 run capped by a long jumper by Jessie, giving the visitors a 7-4 lead with 14:00 on the clock.

A pair of buckets by Ashley Melson and a triple off the hands of Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) put the Eagles up 16-7 with 9:25 remaining in the first half.

Elise Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) sparked a 7-1 run that put the Lady Eagles ahead 25-10 with 4:45 on the clock.  But Stetson worked its way back from the 15-point deficit by responding with a 10-3 scoring drive, including seven points off the hands of Kellie Olson, to end the half trailing by eight points, 28-20.

In first half action, the Hatters got into foul trouble early, allowing the Lady Eagles to head to the charity stripe and connect on 8-of-11 attempts from the line.  GSU’s last seven points of the half came from the free-throw line and they held a 28-20 advantage going into the locker room shooting 9-of-33 (.273) from the field, compared to Stetson’s 6-of-23 (.261) shooting.

In the second half the Hatters closed the gap to within five points twice in the first 10 minutes and GSU held a 46-41 advantage with 10:38 remaining.

Then the Lady Eagles countered with a 14-0 run over the next six minutes for a 60-41 advantage with 4:13 on the clock.  The run was sparked by Geiger’s three-pointer and jumper, and extended by a triple off the hands of Atwood to beat the shot clock.

The Lady Eagles held on to the lead they produced just three minutes into the first half for their first win of the season.

Georgia Southern took advantage of the Hatters’ 27 turnovers, scoring 31 points off the home team’s miscues, compared to Stetson’s 14 points.  The Lady Eagles out-rebounded the Hatters 44-38 and made 14 steals, including a game-high four swipes by Carolyn Whitney, who also netted eight points.

“The kids are starting to believe,” said Cram.  “It was obvious tonight they got their composure back.  They were saying it.  We heard it from the bench.  They were taking ownership.  And when they start taking ownership, that’s half the battle.  I thought we contained them pretty well.  And every time they made a run, we answered it.”

The Lady Eagles continue their tough three-game road trip to battle No. 10 Georgia, Tuesday, November 13 in Athens.

Category: Women's Basketball

Published on Sunday, 11 November 2007 00:11