Lady Eagles Cruise to 83-67 win at Florida Atlantic

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Georgia Southern scored 11 unanswered during a key first half run, and cruised to an 83-67 win at Florida Atlantic Monday night (Nov. 17). The Lady Eagles improved to 2-0 overall while FAU dropped to 0-2.

 

Four starters scored in double-figures, led by Ashley Melson’s 23 points – one shy of her career-high.

 

Holding onto a 23-20 lead midway through the first half, the Eagles staged an 11-0 run to pull away and the Owls never got within single-digits again. Georgia Southern eventually took a 43-27 lead into the locker room.

 

The Eagles shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, compared to FAU’s 30.6 percent. GS also hit five from 3-point range and converted 8-of-10 at the free throw line while FAU hit both attempts from the charity stripe.

 

Ashley Rivens scored 11 of her 14 points during the second half as the Eagles shot 61 percent during the final 20 minutes. The lead grew to as many as 23 when Carolyn Whitney drained a 3-pointer, three of her 12 points, then later when Melson hit a pair of free throws.

 

J'Lisia Ogburn set a career-high netting 14 points. Jessica Geiger cleared away a team-leading eight rebounds.

 

Georgia Southern finished 20-of-28 at the free throw line, holding a +14 edge. Despite the Owls grabbing 11 more offensive rebounds (18-7), GS held a 38-33 edge overall.

 

“Any win on the road is a major win. I thought we played exceptionally well for 30 minutes or so. We tried to work in some of the young players to get them some playing time. I thought Samantha (Williams) came in and played well,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “We executed our game plan almost to perfection and I felt like our motion offense got to them. We held our composure the majority of the time. With the offense we run we don’t know who is going to be scoring from night to night, this is a very unselfish ball club and it could be anyone.”

 

The Eagles end a three-game in five-day stretch on Wednesday night (Nov. 19), playing host to 20th-ranked Auburn. Tip-off at Hanner Fieldhouse is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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