Lady Eagles Win Second-Straight over Southern Wesleyan
12/31/2011 2:45:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind 26 points in the paint and 21 more off of turnovers, the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles won their second-straight game with a 75-40 win over the Southern Wesleyan Warriors on Friday night. Led by Meredyth Frye's (Fredricksburg, Va.) 15 points, nearly every Lady Eagle scored in the contest and all 14 played in the game.
Georgia Southern (4-8) won back-to-back games for the first time this season and committed a season low nine turnovers. The Lady Eagles took advantage of 17 Warrior turnovers, scoring 21 points off of turnovers. Led by Jordi Cook's (Tunnel Hill, Ga.) eight points, the bench contributed 36 points to the team's effort. GSU shot 41.9% from the floor and went five-for-12 from behind the arc en route to their highest point total of the season.
MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) joined Frye in the double-figures column with 10 points. Frye also led the team, who tied a season-high with 48 boards, in rebounding with nine boards. Samantha Williams (Kingsport, Tenn.) was second on the squad with seven boards and added nine points.
Janaye Gillard led Southern Wesleyan (4-7) with 16 points, while Ashley Cooper added 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds. The Warriors scored 18 points in the paint and 10 second-chance points but were held to a 25.5 field goal percentage. The hot shooting three-point team, who ranked 29th in treys per game coming in to tonight, was held to 13.3% by the Lady Eagles' defense.
Georgia Southern opened the first half with an 11-0 run over the first seven minutes; however, Southern Wesleyan rebounded to pull within six points, 13-7, behind five points from Cooper. The Lady Eagles extended the lead back out to double digits, 22-7, with 7:44 to play on a layup from Aishya Wofford (Augusta, Ga.). Frye drained a free throw shot right before the half to end the period with a 39-18 lead.
Georgia Southern opened up a 30-point advantage in the second half, 59-29, on a trey from DuBose with 8:42 remaining. Southern Wesleyan followed with four-straight points to cut into the advantage, but the Lady Eagles regained the 30-point lead with a pair of free throws by Williams. The Lady Eagles closed out the second half with Adrienne DeFilippis' (Pooler, Ga.) first basket of the season.
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