CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? J'Lisia Ogburn tallied a 12-point,
10-rebound outing to lead the Georgia Southern women's basketball team, but Chattanooga
took advantage of its second half three-point and free-throw shooting to pull
away from GSU, Monday evening, taking a 64-50 victory at McKenzie Arena in
Chattanooga, Tenn.
Georgia Southern falls to 11-9 overall and 7-2 in
Southern Conference play. The loss
snapped a six-game win-streak. Chattanooga improved to
18-3 overall and 10-0 in league action.
The win marks the second-longest active win streak in the nation with 13
wins, behind UConn with 19.
J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin,
Ga.) led the team in both points
and rebounds, recording her first career double-double. She was followed by Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola,
Fla.) with seven points.
Three Lady Mocs scored in double-figures, including Brooke Hand with 15
points. She was followed by Alex
Anderson with 14 and Jenaya Wade-Fray with 10.
In first half action, Ogburn and Atwood tallied eight of the team's
first 12 points, helping Georgia Southern produce a 12-8 lead within the first seven
minutes of the game.
But Chattanooga
went on an 8-0 scoring run over the next three minutes to take the lead, 16-12,
with 10:17 remaining in the first half.
Ogburn's bucket with 9:51 on the clock stopped the run and Ashley Rivens' (Charlotte, N.C.)
layup tied up the game 16-16 with 7:35 remaining.
A pair of jumpers by Anderson
and a triple by Erin Ogan helped regain the UTC lead, and the Lady Mocs went
into the locker room with a 24-19 lead.
Chattanooga went into the break hitting 32.3 percent
(10-of-31) from the field, compared to Georgia Southern's 30.0 percent
(9-of-30) field goal shooting. Ogburn
paced the Lady Eagles with six points, while Chattanooga's Alex Anderson netted six
points. Although the Lady Eagles missed
all seven attempts from behind the arc, Chattanooga
didn't fare much better, hitting only 2-of-10 attempts from downtown.
Chattanooga's Brooke Hand buried a triple to open up the
second half to widen the gap to eight points, 27-19. It was one of four she sank in the game,
going 4-of-8 from behind the arc, all in the second half.
The Lady Eagles were able to close the gap to within four points,
29-25, after Ogburn and Ashley Melson
(Newnan, Ga.)
hit a pair of buckets.
But Chattanooga
used four three-pointers and several trips to the foul line to slowly pull
away.
UTC made 16-of-25 free-throws, compared to GSU's 8-of-12 during the
game.
Chattanooga finished the game 35.6 percent (21-of-59)
from the field, while GSU wasn't far behind shooting 35.0 percent (21-of-60)
from the field.
UTC edged GSU in the rebounding category, 43-40, while GSU held a 32-12
advantage in points in the paint.
Georgia Southern will return to Statesboro, Saturday
(Feb. 2) to play host to UNC Greensboro at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. It is the first of a two-game homestand.
