Women?s Basketball Defeats Chattanooga in Overtime 77-69
12/19/2010 4:48:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Statesboro, Ga. - Led by a strong first-half offensive performance by redshirt freshman MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) and senior leadership from guards Jamie Navarro (Naples, Fla.) and Logan Youngblood (Sylvester, Ga.) late in the game, the Lady Eagles topped Chattanooga with a 77-69 win in overtime at Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday.
After a seven-game road trip, Georgia Southern returned home to play host to Southern Conference rival Chattanooga. The Lady Eagles started strong as DuBose scored 17 of her career-high 19 points in the first half. After connecting on three of her first four shots from behind the arc, DuBose and the Eagles led 22-20 with 10 minutes left in the first half. With eight lead changes in the opening period, both teams traded baskets before Georgia Southern headed to the locker room with a 38-36 advantage.
"I thought we shot really well there in the first half," said Lady Eagle Head Coach, Rusty Cram. "Chattanooga is one of the premiere teams in our conference and we executed really well. MiMi got us going with those big three pointers and our defense did a great job in transition."
Chattanooga tied it up quickly in the second half as a Kylie Lambert layup evened the score at 38 all. After another Lady Moc basket, Lady Eagle Meredyth Frye (Fredericksburg, Va.) dropped in a trey to give Georgia Southern a one-point lead, 41-40, with 16:47 on the game clock. Chattanooga and Georgia Southern would trade baskets and register two more ties before Chattanooga hit back-to-back three-point baskets to take a six-point lead, its largest of the contest.
Georgia Southern would fight back late in the second half, retaking the lead after a basket from Youngblood bringing the score to 61-60 with just over a minute left to play. With two key free throws from Frye, the Eagles went up 63-60 with 23 seconds left in regulation. After a quick Chattanooga time out, the Lady Mocs would move the ball down the court before a last-second, three-point prayer from Lambert knotted the game at 63, sending the game to overtime.
Chattanooga struck first in the overtime period, but a DuBose layup, followed by a Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) three pointer, gave the Lady Eagles a 68-65 lead with 3:41 left in overtime. After four missed Lady Moc shots and four straight Navarro free throws Georgia Southern extended its lead to six with less than 30 seconds to play. Successful free throws from Krista Tate (Atlanta, Ga.) and a strong defensive performance by Youngblood with a key block and rebound in the game's final seconds propelled the Lady Eagles to a 77-69 victory.
"I was very impressed with Logan [Youngblood] tonight. She has really come on strong in these last couple of games and earned the game ball for her performance this afternoon," Cram said after the game. "Our team did a great job of not getting discouraged after the late shot to send it into overtime. They stayed focused and came out on top."
Five Lady Eagles scored in double figures as Navarro had 13 points, Frye scored 12 and Tate and Youngblood had 11 each. Tate led the Eagles on the boards with seven. The Lady Mocs' Whitney Hood had a double-double with game highs in points, 22, and rebounds, 13.
Georgia Southern (3-8, 1-2) returns to the court to face conference foe Samford (7-2, 2-0) Monday, December 20th at Hanner Fieldhouse. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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