STATESBORO, Ga. ? Tiffany Brown and Ashley Melson combined for 37 points as the Georgia Southern women's basketball team soared past USC Upstate, 81-66, Saturday afternoon, at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Georgia Southern improves to 3-5 on the season, snapping a three-game skid and adding another win to its unblemished home record, 2-0. USC Upstate drops its second straight game as it falls to 2-5 in the young season.
Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) paced the team with 25 points and six rebounds, followed by Melson's (Newnan, Ga.) 13 points and six boards. Five of Melson's rebounds came on the offensive side.
Seniors Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) and Chequilla Jessie (Sanford, Fla.) also pulled down six rebounds, apiece, as the Lady Eagles out-rebounded the Spartans 50-39.
USC Upstate was led by Oceana Jackson with 22 points and nine rebounds and was followed by Shanea Wyant with 18 points.
Both teams battled back and forth during the first half with seven lead changes and six ties. Georgia Southern produced an 11-point lead in the first stanza and went into the locker room with a 41-32 advantage. Brown led the team at the half with 14 points, while USC Upstate's Wyant tallied 13 points at the break.
In second-half action, the Georgia Southern defense managed to hold Wyant to three points, but in her stead, teammate Jackson stepped up to score 19 of her 22 points for the Spartans.
Georgia Southern's reserves made a changing impact in the battle, scoring 25 of its 48 bench points in the second half, including 11 points off the hands of Tiffany Brown. The Lady Eagles also pulled down 27 rebounds in the second stanza, compared to Upstate's 16.
Georgia Southern's largest lead of the game came at the 11:22 mark when Atwood buried a three-pointer to put the Lady Eagles up 59-43, 16 points.
USC Spartanburg managed to chip away at the GSU lead, cutting it in half to just eight points, 65-57, after surging on a 14-6 run over the next six minutes. Jackson netted 11 points during that span.
But a pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Brown and sophomore guard Elise Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) gave the Lady Eagles a double-digit lead, 71-57, with 4:30 remaining to secure the non-conference win.
Depth was key in the victory as Georgia Southern claimed a 48-14 advantage in points off the bench.
Georgia Southern also led in field goal shooting, making 30-of-73 (41.1%) attempts from the field, including nine three-pointers, compared to Upstate's 23-of-64 (35.9%) shooting from the field.
Sophomore guard Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) dished out a team-high five assists on the day.
Georgia Southern will take a week off from competition and will return back to action at Georgia Tech, Sunday, December 9th at 1 p.m.
