Lady Eagles Push Akron to Overtime in Dallas
11/27/2010 8:59:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DALLAS, Texas - Trailing by as many as 19 points midway through the second half, the Georgia Southern Women's Basketball team went on a 19-6 run over seven minutes to set the stage for overtime against Akron. The Lady Eagles tied the game at 70 with two layups in the waning seconds, but Akron shot 85 percent in the extra period to take the 94-81 win in the first round of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Tournament. Georgia Southern will play in the consolation bracket against Arkansas State at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday at Moody Coliseum.
The Lady Eagles outscored Akron 47-33 and shot 67 percent from the field to assist in the second-half comeback, but still found themselves down one point, 66-67 with 52 seconds left in the game. Akrons's Carly Young hit a three pointer to help the Zips to a four-point margin with 27 seconds remaining in the game.
Georgia Southern guard MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) scored a quick layup with only 19 ticks left on the clock before Coach Rusty Cram called a timeout. The Lady Eagles got the ball back after an Akron turnover and then Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) fed Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) for a layup to tie the game.
Tate, with a double-double, scored 16 of her 21 total points in the second half and the overtime period. Navarro finished with 16 points and Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) 11 on the night. Akron's Rachel Tecca had a game-high 14 rebounds while Tate had 10. Akron's Taylor Ruper scored 19 of her game-high 26 points in the first half and finished with eight total field goals, including five three pointers.
The Zips used a 10-2 run to start the overtime period and take an 82-72 lead. Candice Ivy (Roswell, Ga.) hit a basket at the 4:16 mark and nearly three minutes would pass before Meredyth Frye's (Fredericksburg, Va.) layup broke the scoring drought. Akron rattled off eight more free throws and added a jumper while five points by Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) and a field goal by Ro-Ro Smith put the final at 94-81.
First-half shooting woes put the Lady Eagles behind from the start of the game. At the half, Georgia Southern had made only nine field goals while Akron had tallied eight three-point baskets. Up 16-11 at the 7:45 mark of the first half, the Zips used a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 26-11. Akron maintained the double-digit margin and took a 37-23 lead into the locker room.
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