Lady Eagles Pull Within Five but Unable to Overcome Early Deficit
1/10/2012 1:15:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - Briana Scott (Dumfries, Va.) scored a career-high 14 points, but the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles were unable to overcome a first-half scoring drought in a 66-60 loss to the Chattanooga Lady Mocs at Hanner Fieldhouse Monday. Despite trailing by 19 points with 12:29 to go in the second half, The Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Mocs in the second half 43-35 and pulled within five points in the final minute.
"We just waited too late to get started, and we just dug ourselves a hole," said Head Coach Rusty Cram about his team's comeback effort. "They got better tonight, and we didn't let it get away. We found a good combination there at the end, and we rode them as far as we could. I just didn't have enough timeouts to keep playing that same group."
Whitney Hood helped Chattanooga (10-4, 5-0) remain perfect in Southern Conference with 17 points and nine rebounds. Faith Dupree was the only other Lady Moc to reach double figures. She scored 10 points in just 14 minutes of action. Taylor Hall helped UTC reach the 40 rebound plateau for the sixth time this season with 12 boards.
Georgia Southern (5-10, 1-5) made just seven first-half field goals and shot 21.2% in the first period to put themselves in a 14-point hole at halftime. They rebounded with 13 field goals and 12 free throws in the second half to their third most points this season. GSU also tied a season-low with nine turnovers and committed only one in the first half.
Janay Wilson (Warner Robins, Ga.) tied a career mark with 13 points and nine rebounds. She was one of four Lady Eagles to score in double figures. Meredyth Frye (Fredricksburg, Va.) scored in double figures for the fifth-straight game with 12 points, while MiMi DuBose (Jefferson, Ga.) added 10 points. Scott surpassed her career-best of 10 points a year ago against Appalachian State with 14 points, including two three pointers.
"She has always been one of the better post defenders in the conference, but her biggest problem has been confidence in herself," stated Cram about Scott's career night. "She is learning, works hard and is starting to knock down her shot. She has really worked hard on being able to make that eight to 10 foot jumper."
DuBose and Wilson led Georgia Southern in the first half with four points each. Hood paced Chattanooga, who shot 44.4% from the floor, with eight points. Taylor Hall pulled down eight of her boards in the period. Alex Black added six points, including a pair of free throws before the halftime break, to the Lady Mocs 31 point halftime tally.
DuBose scored the first basket of the game with 17:57 to play, but it was all Chattanooga for the next five minutes. The Lady Mocs outscored the Lady Eagles 14-2 over the next 4:50 and led 14-4 with 11:34 remaining. After Briana Scott (Dumfries, Va.) cut the lead to eight points with a layup, UTC extended their advantage to 15 points behind a 9-2 run and four points from Hood. Tashayla Steede (Marietta, Ga.) capped a 7-1 run to cut the lead to nine points but the Lady Mocs extended their advantage to 14 points at the break.
Georgia Southern hung with Chattanooga in the second half and pulled within five points with 37 seconds to go on a trey from Frye. The Lady Eagles shot 54.2% in the period on 13-for-24 shooting. Wilson sparked an 11-2 run in the final six minutes to cut the UTC lead under 10 points for the first time since halfway through the first half. A trey from Scott and two free throws by Anna Claire Knight (Dublin, Ga.) pulled GSU within 14 points with nearly nine minutes.
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