STATESBORO, Ga. – Jasmine McAllister tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Kennesaw State shot 54 percent in the second half to defeat Georgia Southern 72-51 in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Anna Claire Knight led the Eagles (1-2) with 11 points, while Angel McGowan and Trellanie English-Lurry each scored 10.

McAllister was 5-of-9 from the floor and 6-for-10 from the free-throw line for Kennesaw State (3-1), which outscored Georgia Southern 43-18 in the paint and outrebounded the Eagles 44-28.

Deandrea Sawyers posted 19 points and six rebounds, while Kristina Wells chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Breonna Mosely finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three steals. Karly Frye posted seven points and seven assists.

The Owls led by eight points at halftime and opened the second stanza with a 17-4 spurt to break the game open. Wells, McAllister and Sawyers combined for 14 points, and Frye hit a triple during the run. A pair of free throws by Sawyers made the score 49-28.

Georgia Southern cut the margin to 17 points on a three-point play by Alexis Sams with 4:29 remaining and to 16 points on a Sierra Kirkland jumper with 2:28 to play, but that was as close as the Eagles would get.

After taking a 2-0 lead on a jumper by Briana Jones early in the contest, the Eagles went cold, missing their next eight shots while Kennesaw State scored 11 straight points. Trailing 23-13, English-Lurry scored five points in a 7-0 Eagle run to cut the margin to three points with 4:50 left in the half. The Owls answered with a jumper by Frye and a 3-pointer by Sawyers and went into the break ahead 32-24. The Eagles shot 32 percent in the first half and 36 percent for the game.

"We struggled to keep them from getting position inside, and we struggled to keep them off the boards on the defensive end," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "On the other end, we had some turnovers early that detracted from our confidence in trying to get the ball inside, and we took some shots that weren't in the flow of our offense."

Georgia Southern returns to action at Georgia Tuesday, Nov. 25, in a 7 p.m. tipoff.

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