Georgia Southern Drops SoCon Match-Up to College of Charleston
2/16/2009 5:26:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, GA ? Freshman Samantha Williams scored a career high 13 points and was the only Lady Eagle in double figures as the Georgia Southern women's basketball team dropped a Southern Conference 63-43 decision to College of Charleston Monday night (Feb. 16). Cougar head coach Nancy Wilson recorded her 500th career win as CofC improved to 19-7 overall and 12-6 in conference play. The Lady Eagles dropped to 15-11, 10-7.
“Samantha [Williams] did everything right tonight, even when she turned the ball over,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “The fight came out in her tonight as she was trying to get everyone else up. She was the only thing positive of the night.”
Despite both teams committing 11 turnovers in the opening half, College of Charleston capitalized on Georgia Southern's errors, scoring 18 points off 11 the turnovers committed by the Lady Eagles. The Lady Eagles were scoreless from the 7:03 mark after Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) nailed her second three of the night as CofC ended the opening half on an 11-3 run over the final 6:56 of action which saw five turnovers by Georgia Southern. The run allowed the Cougars to take a comfortable 12 point advantage, 33-21, at the half.
Georgia Southern opened the contest taking the early 7-4 advantage off buckets from Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.). But College of Charleston quickly tied the game for the second time in the night with a three from Jade Hughes at the 15:00 minute mark. The Cougars took their first lead of the game when Deidra Jones had a three point affair with a trip to the line and Tonia Gerty responded with a fast break lay-up off a steal, giving CofC the 12-11 advantage.
It was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded buckets over the next four minutes until the Cougars took its third and final lead of the half at the 8:01 marker when Brooke Kotcella hit a jumper pushing the score to a 20-18 CofC favor. After another field goal from Cougar Hughes, Williams nailed the final bucket of the half for the Lady Eagles with a three at the 7:03 mark.
Georgia Southern shot 32 percent off 7-of-22 shooting to the Cougars' 15-of-29 (52 percent) in the opening stanza. Melson led the Eagles in the half with five points and four rebounds, while Jones led the Cougars with nine points; Kotecella secured five boards.
The Cougars held the Lady Eagles to seven field goals in the second half as Georgia Southern did not score from the field until the 14:30 marker when Melson hit a jumper, ending over a 12 minute drought for the Lady Eagles from the floor. Georgia Southern did not make another field goal until J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) contributed two points with 13:14 left as the Cougars continued to widen its lead in the second half. CofC maintained a double digit lead at the second media timeout, leading 39-27, and took a 13 point lead by 3:51. Navarro nailed a three with 2:17 remaining to make it a ten point game, 48-38, the Cougars' smallest lead since 17:15.
Following Navarro's bucket, Williams scored twice in the final minute and a half of action, rounding out her 13 point night, a career high, as the Cougars finished the contest on a 6-0 run. CofC's biggest lead of the game was the final margin score of 20, 63-43.
“They started with a man-to-man defense and then moved to a zone defense. For the first couple of minutes against their zone we did well and then the rest of the night we had no offense,” said Cram.
The Lady Eagles return to action on Saturday, February 21, when they compete in their final home contest of 2009 against Davidson. Tip-off on Senior Day is slated for 3 p.m.
“Samantha [Williams] did everything right tonight, even when she turned the ball over,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “The fight came out in her tonight as she was trying to get everyone else up. She was the only thing positive of the night.”
Despite both teams committing 11 turnovers in the opening half, College of Charleston capitalized on Georgia Southern's errors, scoring 18 points off 11 the turnovers committed by the Lady Eagles. The Lady Eagles were scoreless from the 7:03 mark after Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) nailed her second three of the night as CofC ended the opening half on an 11-3 run over the final 6:56 of action which saw five turnovers by Georgia Southern. The run allowed the Cougars to take a comfortable 12 point advantage, 33-21, at the half.
Georgia Southern opened the contest taking the early 7-4 advantage off buckets from Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.). But College of Charleston quickly tied the game for the second time in the night with a three from Jade Hughes at the 15:00 minute mark. The Cougars took their first lead of the game when Deidra Jones had a three point affair with a trip to the line and Tonia Gerty responded with a fast break lay-up off a steal, giving CofC the 12-11 advantage.
It was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded buckets over the next four minutes until the Cougars took its third and final lead of the half at the 8:01 marker when Brooke Kotcella hit a jumper pushing the score to a 20-18 CofC favor. After another field goal from Cougar Hughes, Williams nailed the final bucket of the half for the Lady Eagles with a three at the 7:03 mark.
Georgia Southern shot 32 percent off 7-of-22 shooting to the Cougars' 15-of-29 (52 percent) in the opening stanza. Melson led the Eagles in the half with five points and four rebounds, while Jones led the Cougars with nine points; Kotecella secured five boards.
The Cougars held the Lady Eagles to seven field goals in the second half as Georgia Southern did not score from the field until the 14:30 marker when Melson hit a jumper, ending over a 12 minute drought for the Lady Eagles from the floor. Georgia Southern did not make another field goal until J'Lisia Ogburn (Dublin, Ga.) contributed two points with 13:14 left as the Cougars continued to widen its lead in the second half. CofC maintained a double digit lead at the second media timeout, leading 39-27, and took a 13 point lead by 3:51. Navarro nailed a three with 2:17 remaining to make it a ten point game, 48-38, the Cougars' smallest lead since 17:15.
Following Navarro's bucket, Williams scored twice in the final minute and a half of action, rounding out her 13 point night, a career high, as the Cougars finished the contest on a 6-0 run. CofC's biggest lead of the game was the final margin score of 20, 63-43.
“They started with a man-to-man defense and then moved to a zone defense. For the first couple of minutes against their zone we did well and then the rest of the night we had no offense,” said Cram.
The Lady Eagles return to action on Saturday, February 21, when they compete in their final home contest of 2009 against Davidson. Tip-off on Senior Day is slated for 3 p.m.
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