Lady Eagles Still Undefeated at Home, Edge Western Carolina
1/26/2008 5:03:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern women's basketball team edged Western Carolina, 64-62, Saturday evening (Jan. 26) in front of the fourth-largest crowd at Hanner Fieldhouse, maintaining its undefeated home record and extending its win-streak to six games.
Georgia Southern held off a late Western Carolina rally closing the GSU lead to one point (63-62) with 41 seconds remaining in the game. But after GSU missed a jumper on the next possession, Western Carolina missed an opportunity to go ahead, turning the ball over with 10 seconds remaining, and GSU spent its final possession trying to run out the clock.
A WCU foul sent Ashley Rivens (Charlotte, N.C.) to the line, and with two seconds remaining, she put GSU up by two (64-62). Time ran out before the Catamounts could get a good shot off and the Lady Eagles held on for the victory.
With the win Georgia Southern improves to 11-8 overall and 7-1 in
Southern Conference action. The win marks the team's sixth-consecutive
win, and seventh-consecutive conference victory, its best streak since
winning 12-consecutive games from Jan. 20, 2001 to Mar. 2, 2001.
The
win also gives the Lady Eagles sole possession of second place in
league standings, behind only Chattanooga, which remains undefeated
(9-0) in SoCon action after defeating College of Charleston, Saturday.
Western
Carolina's six-game win-streak came to a halt, and the Catamounts fall
to 14-6 overall and 6-2 in league play. WCU currently shares third
place in SoCon standings with Davidson (12-7, 6-2).
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| | Tiffany Brown tallied 11 points on the night. |
Western Carolina was paced by Kendra Eaton with 15 points, followed by Monique Dawson with 13. Chevon Keith pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds, which helped the team tally an 11-5 advantage in second-chance points.
In first-half action, both teams struggled from the field. Western Carolina went cold since its first basket just 20 seconds into the game, missing 18-consecutive field goal attempts. Georgia Southern took advantage of the Catamounts shooting drought and slowly produced a nine-point lead, 17-8, with 6:35 on the first-half clock.
Catamount Kendra Carroll snapped the shooting slump with a layup, but GSU continued to widen the gap over the next five minutes to claim a 14-point advantage. A jumper by Ashley Pellom closed the GSU lead to 12 points to go into the locker room with the Lady Eagles up, 25-13.
In the second-half, Western Carolina overcame an 11.5 percent (3-of-26) first-half shooting performance, going on a 15-2 scoring run over the first five minutes and taking a two-point lead, 29-27. Three-consecutive three-pointers by the Catamounts helped propel the drive before GSU's Waterman tied up the game, 29-29 with 15:33 remaining on a pair of free-throws.
Brown's fast break layup on the next GSU possession gave the Lady Eagles the lead, but Western Carolina fought back to take a 33-32 advantage on a Kristen Feemster layup with 13:04 on the clock.
Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.), who dished out a game-high five assists on the day, buried the go-ahead triple on the next possession, and after the Catamounts tied it up on a jumper, Whitney's layup put the Lady Eagles up for good, 37-35, with 11:26 remaining.
Western Carolina's 57.6 percent (19-of-33) shooting in the second half helped the Catamounts twice pull to within one point in the remaining minutes, but GSU's 45.2 percent (14-of-31) second-half shooting and solid defense was good enough to hold off a Catamounts' rally, and the Lady Eagles held on for the win.
Georgia Southern's bench outscored the Catamounts, 23-15. Western Carolina shot 22-of-59 (.373) from the field, compared to GSU's 23-of-63 (.365) field goal shooting.
After a four-game homestand, the Lady Eagles have little time to rest as they next head to Chattanooga to take on SoCon leader Lady Mocs, Monday (Jan. 28). Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at McKenzie Arena.
Hanner Fielhouse, which was decorated in pink, was filled with 1,710 fans donning their pink attire in support of the “Pack the House in Pink” initiative to promote breast cancer awareness.
