Box Score
DAVIDSON 79, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 66
DAVIDSON (9-9, 6-1 SoCon)
EARLY, Hannah 9-16 1-3 22; MURRAY, Laura 6-14 6-8 19; DUKES, Dakota 3-6 4-4
10; ERIKSSON, Shannon 3-9 0-0 7; CENTER, Shneeka 2-9 2-2 6; MCCABE, Lillian
2-3 2-2 6; PILES, Rachel 1-1 3-4 5; LONG, Alex 0-1 4-4 4. Totals 26-59 22-27
79.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (5-13, 3-4 SoCon)
KNIGHT, Anna Claire 8-20 0-0 19; DUBOSE, MiMi 5-14 5-5 17; MCGOWAN, Angel
4-7 0-0 10; JONES, Briana 5-8 0-1 10; KIRKLAND, Sierra 1-4 3-4 5; DOWLING,
Lacie 1-6 0-0 3; SPENCER, Danielle 0-4 2-2 2; CORCORAN, Kelsey 0-0 0-0 0;
COOK, Jordi 0-0 0-0 0; MARCUS, Jessica 0-1 0-0 0; ROBERTS, Danielle 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 24-64 10-12 66.
Davidson...................... 36 43 - 79
Georgia Southern.............. 38 28 - 66
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STATESBORO, Ga. – Hannah Early scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the second half to lead Davidson to a 79-66 Southern Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Saturday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.
Anna Claire Knight led Georgia Southern (5-13, 3-4) with 19 points to go along with six rebounds, and
MiMi DuBose notched 17 points and three assists.
Briana Jones and
Angel McGowan each scored 10, and
Danielle Spencer corralled a game-high 11 rebounds.
Early was 6-for-9 from the floor in the second half for Davidson (9-9, 6-1) and knocked down all three of her 3-point attempts. Laura Murray tallied 19 points, six assists and five rebounds for the game, while Dakota Dukes scored 10.
A McGowan triple from the baseline cut a five-point Wildcat lead to 56-54 with 7:24 to play, but Shannon Eriksson answered right back with a triple from the wing for the visitors. Jones scored a layup on Georgia Southern's next trip down the floor to cut the margin to three, and the Eagles forced a Davidson turnover but missed a contested layup in transition.
The game really turned when Early got loose for three 3-pointers in less than two minutes. She hit two treys from the wing in an 8-0 Wildcat run, which opened a 67-56 lead with 5:11 to go. A 3-pointer by Knight cut the margin to six, but Early answered with another triple as the Wildcats scored the next 10 points to take control of the contest.
"I thought that we weren't particularly sharp in executing our half-court stuff, and it caught up with us as we had more empty possessions in the second half," said Georgia Southern coach
Chris Vozab. "We were a little too predetermined in some of the things we were looking for and really didn't make great reads, and I think there was a point in the game where we let that affect us on defense."
With the Eagles leading 10-8 early in the contest, DuBose and McGowan scored five points each in a 12-1 Georgia Southern spurt that opened a 13-point advantage, their largest of the game. Lillian McCabe, Dukes and Early each scored four points as the Wildcats answered with a 17-4 stretch to tie the score 26-26 with 5:49 left in the half.
"We had some really good looks making plays for each other early and got some confidence that way," said Vozab. "I thought we did a tremendous job in the first half of guarding the 3-point arc and finding shooters and being very alert, and then at a point when we struggled to execute on offense, our defensive execution took a step back."
A quick 9-2 run, capped by a McGowan jumper put the Eagles back on top by seven points, but Davidson countered by scoring eight in a row to take a one-point lead with 42 seconds left. Dubose scored a conventional 3-point play on GSU's next trip down the floor, and the Eagles led 38-36 at halftime.
Georgia Southern held a 15-7 edge on the offensive glass and scored 17 second-chance points. The Wildcats forced 21 Eagle turnovers and notched 29 points off the miscues.
The Eagles open a two-game Western North Carolina road swing Saturday, Jan. 25, with a 2 p.m. contest at Western Carolina. The Eagles will also take on Appalachian State Monday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
