Shooting Struggles in Second Hurt Lady Eagles
11/22/2010 8:51:00 AM | Women's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Senior point guard Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) scored 15 of her 17 game-high points in the first half, but three double-figure Jacksonville scorers helped propel the Dolphins to a 72-56 win over the Lady Eagles. Junior Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) picked up eight of her 11 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit Sunday at Swisher Gymnasium.
Navarro scored nine of the Lady Eagles' first 11 points as the lead teetered between one, two or three points for most of the first half. Jacksonville put together an 11-2 run over a four-minute span, getting five points from Lynsey Paschal and four by the Dolphins' leading scorer Gigi Thomas to pull out to an eight-point lead. Tate picked up a key rebound and fed Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) for a three pointer, cutting the lead to five at the 10:42 mark. The Dolphins capitalized on three Georgia Southern turnovers for seven points, going up 26-15 with eight minutes left to play in the first half.
Over the next three minutes, the Lady Eagles would keep Jacksonville scoreless while Navarro contributed five points in less than a minute to get back within five. The Dolphins and Lady Eagles traded almost point-for-point, but Jacksonville used an 8-3 run to close out the first 20 minutes for a 41-31 halftime lead. The Dolphins shot 51.7 percent for the first half from the field to Georgia Southern's 40.9 percent.
The Lady Eagles came out shooting to start the second half, but four straight attempts wouldn't fall. Tate countered a Thomas short jumper in the lane with a layup for GSU's first points of the half. Without a basket in a four-minute stretch, the Lady Eagles still managed to put points on the board as Frye and Tate added free throws to the point total, 50-37, Jacksonville. The second half saw only a 27.6 shooting percentage by Georgia Southern.
Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) ended the field goal drought by hitting a jumper at the 13:16 mark and then Tate added two more free throws to cut the Dolphin lead to nine, 43-52. Jacksonville, though, stormed back with a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to extend its lead to 64-45. Tate tossed in two more free throws and before the Lady Eagles went on a 7-3 run to close the gap. A basket by Adrienne DeFilippis finished the scoring for Georgia Southern.
Thomas had 15 points with Crystal Bell putting in 14 for the Dolphins. The Lady Eagles' MiMi DuBose had nine points off the bench with three rebounds and a blocked shot. Freshman Danielle Spencer (Atlanta, Ga.) grabbed a career-best five rebounds, sharing the Lady Eagle lead with Tate.
Georgia Southern travels to Dallas next for the SMU Tournament this weekend, Friday-Saturday, November 26-27th. The Lady Eagles meet Akron at 6 p.m. Friday and then play either SMU or Arkansas State Saturday evening. Fans can follow the Lady Eagles on GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com and get scores at twitter.com/GSScores. Short updates are also available at facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics.
