Lady Eagles Fall to Sharpshooting Georgia

ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team fell to a sharpshooting No. 8/10 Georgia, Tuesday night (Nov. 13) at Stegeman Coliseum by a 105-66 decision.

Georgia Southern falls to 1-2 on the young season, while Georgia remains undefeated at 3-0.

The Lady Eagles were led by senior forward Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) with 16 points and seven rebounds, hitting 6-of-13 from the field.  Also scoring in double-figures was junior guard Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) and sophomore forward Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Six Lady Bulldogs scored in double figures, including Tasha Humphrey with a game-high 18 points.

The Lady Eagles won the tip, but Georgia got out to an early 13-2 lead with 16:31 on the clock.  Georgia Southern’s first points came off a pair of free throws by Geiger.

The Lady Eagles’ first bucket came off a put-back by Atwood after an offensive rebound, closing the Georgia lead to nine points, 13-4 with 16:13 on the clock.

But Georgia took advantage of their size and forced 16 first-half turnovers and slowly widened the gap to take a 52-21 lead going into the break.

At the break, Atwood paced the team with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field.  Geiger followed with seven points and four rebounds.  Leading the Lady Bulldogs was Megan Darrah and Humphrey with 11 points, apiece.

Sparked by an old-fashioned three pointer by Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) 20 seconds into the second half, the Lady Eagles came out shooting, more than doubling their score from the first half.  Georgia Southern scored 45 points, compared to UGA’s 53, including six three-pointers in the second stanza, plus a three-point play by Atwood at the 12:08 mark, 75-44.

But the Lady Bulldogs also improved their shooting in the second half, shooting 20-of-31 (64.5%) from the field.

“They went to a zone early in the second half,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “That was good for us to be able to work against a zone.  That was certainly a bright spot for us.  They exposed our post game in the first half and we had no answer for it and I thought that that’s where the whole thing started to spread the wealth, as far as points is concerned.”

Sophomore guard Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) finished the game with nine points while dishing out a game-high five assists.  Geiger swiped a game-high four steals on the night.

Georgia led the Lady Eagles in field goal shooting, making 37-of-65 attempts (56.9%), while holding GSU to 23-of-68 shooting (33.8%).  The Lady Bulldogs also the rebounds category (46-33), while also edging GSU 17-20 in the turnover margin.

The Lady Eagles will have a week to prepare for their next contest which is the home opener versus Jacksonville State.  The non-conference match-up is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Category: Women's Basketball

Published on Tuesday, 13 November 2007 00:10