Alabama Holds Off Late Charge By Lady Eagles
11/20/2010 5:12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Women's Basketball Team outscored Alabama in the second half 38-35 and held the Tide to 23 points under its scoring average, but the Tide left Statesboro with a 65-55 victory Friday night. Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) scored 10 points, all coming in the second half, to lead the Lady Eagles.
Junior guard Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) had nine points while junior forward Candice Ivy (Roswell, Ga.), senior point guard Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) and redshirt freshman MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) contributed eight each. The Tide's Jasmine Robinson led all scorers with 16 points and Tierney Jenkins recorded the 27th double-double of her career with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
A 14-5 run over five minutes in the second half helped Georgia Southern cut a double-digit lead to six points as the Lady Eagles attempted to take over the game. Alabama had recorded seven team fouls by the 12-minute mark, putting the Lady Eagles at the free throw line for the rest of the night. During its run, Georgia Southern added nine points from the charity stripe to go along with a three-pointer and field goal. GSU cut the lead to five, 58-53, with a minute and a half remaining in the game. Jenkins hit four free throws in the final minute to secure the win for Alabama.
"That just shows the heart of these kids," said Lady Eagles Head Coach Rusty Cram. "I think they disappointed themselves in the first half -- we weren't sharp, we didn't come out and focus. That was disappointing because I haven't seen that in this team. We were able to regroup at halftime and come out to actually win the second half by three. The heart of the team is that they are not going to quit, they're not going to lie down. I was tickled to death that they fought back."
Alabama, which usually scores an average of 50 points in the paint, was limited to 14 points by Georgia Southern. The Tide averaged 88 points per game coming into Friday night's contest.
The Lady Eagles trailed 17-30 at the half, shooting only 28.6 (6-21) percent from the field, but getting eight points of offensive production from its bench. Alabama forced Georgia Southern into 15 turnovers in the first half and converted those turnovers into 15 Tide points. Jenkins and Robinson each had four points in the first seven minutes to pace Alabama to a nine-point lead. DuBose and sophomore Ro-Ro Smith (Blackshear, Ga.) each hit threes and freshman forward Danielle Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) added a jumper to pull the Lady Eagles within five.
Georgia Southern plays next at Jacksonville Sunday, November 21st, at 1 p.m.
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