STATESBORO, Ga. – Keke Veal registered 22 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists to lead UL Lafayette to a 69-57 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern in Hanner Fieldhouse Thursday evening.

Anna Claire Knight scored a season-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds, and Angel McGowan collected 17 points, six assists and four boards for Georgia Southern (4-10, 1-4).

Kia Wilridge posted 14 points and two steals for UL Lafayette (10-4, 2-3), and Jaylyn Gordon contributed 10 points, five assists and three steals.

Georgia Southern shot 44 percent for the game while allowing the Ragin' Cajuns to shoot 37 percent from the field, but the Ragin' Cajuns forced 22 turnovers and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. That resulted in a 73-48 UL Lafayette advantage in field-goal attempts.

"It was a battle of trying to control the tempo," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "When we were in our half-court offense and were able to get a few ball reversals, we were able to get good shots and control the tempo. When they were able to get out in transition and set up their press, they were able to change the tempo to their liking. I thought we ran good offense and played good defense, but any time you allow a team to take 25 more shots than you, it's going to be awfully tough to win."

UL Lafayette pushed a five-point halftime lead to nine on a Robbie Brown jumper 7:59 into the second stanza. Knight hit a triple from the top of the key, and McGowan added a layup to cut the margin to four, but Veal answered with a jumper for UL Lafayette.

McGowan's jumper cut the lead back to four on the next possession, but Wilridge scored six straight points for the Ragin' Cajuns to push the margin back to 10 points. The Eagles cut it to eight twice in the last 4:30, but UL Lafayette made 10-of-10 from the free-throw line to seal the win.

The Ragin' Cajuns' pressure defense forced turnovers on four of Georgia Southern's first six possessions as UL Lafayette jumped out to a 9-2 lead to start the game. Brown scored six points in a 13-0 run that put the Ragin' Cajuns ahead 24-10 with 8:36 left in the half.

The Eagles used a late first-half run to get back in the game. McGowan scored six points to key a 12-4 spurt that trimmed the lead to 28-24, and Georgia Southern trailed 31-26 at halftime. The Eagles held UL Lafayette to 33 percent shooting while making 44 percent of their shots on the other end in the first half, but 11 turnovers turned into 12 Ragin' Cajun points.

The Eagles open a three-game road trip at Troy Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. Eastern.

All-session ticket books for this year's Sun Belt Conference Championships March 11-15, in New Orleans are available at the Georgia Southern ticket office. Call 1-800-GSU-WINS!

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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or visit GSEagles.com.