TROY, Ala. – Ronita Garrett recorded 16 points, 13 rebounds, five steals and three assists, and Troy finished the game with a 13-4 run to post an 84-74 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon in Trojan Arena.

Anna Claire Knight scored a season-high 24 points and added 10 rebounds and a steal to lead Georgia Southern (4-11, 1-5), and Angel McGowan contributed 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Patrice Butler finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, and Alexis Sams tallied nine points and a career-high eight assists. Briana Jones collected eight points, 10 rebounds and two assists.

Lacey Buchanon finished with 14 points and five assists, and Aissata Maiga contributed 11 points and seven rebounds for Troy (10-5, 5-1). Ashley Beverly-Kelley posted 10 points and three steals.

The Eagles trailed 71-70 after two free throws by Knight with 4:16 remaining. Georgia Southern got four straight defensive stops but turned it over twice on the other end and missed a triple from the wing and a jumper from the elbow on its other two possessions.

The last Eagle turnover resulted in a fast-break layup for Garrett to make the margin 73-70. Sierra Kirkland hit a baseline jumper for Georgia Southern, but Rachel Reid answered with a 3-pointer from the wing for Troy. Butler scored a layup to draw the Eagles to within two points with 1:29 remaining, but Beverly-Kelley drove for a layup at the other end. 

The Eagles turned it over, and Courtney Coleman got a fast-break layup to push the margin to six points. Buchanon put the game away with four free throws in the final 30 seconds.

"It was an up-and-down pace with a lot of momentum shifts," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "I thought our kids battled really hard and showed a lot of grit and determination. I thought at the end of the game, we just wore down a little bit and didn't get the same quality of possessions offensively that we had been getting."

Georgia Southern shot 46 percent for the game, including 54 percent in the second half, while holding Troy to 37 percent for the contest. The Eagles committed 25 turnovers, which Troy turned into 25 points, and the Trojans used 24 offensive boards to get 18 second-chance points.

It was a game of runs throughout the contest. With Troy leading 18-15 in the first half, Beverly-Kelley scored a pair of baskets in a 10-0 run that pushed the lead to 28-15 with 3:03 left. Abby Hix came off the bench to hit a pair of triples, and Jones capped a 15-4 Georgia Southern run as the Eagles took a brief 33-32 lead. Lauren Day hit a baseline jumper on the Trojans' next trip down the floor and Troy led 34-33 at halftime.

McGowan, Sams and Knight all hit 3-pointers in a 13-4 run that put the Eagles ahead 50-41with 14:51 left in the game. Troy came right back with a 20-4 spurt to open a 61-54 advantage midway through the frame. The Eagles fought back as Knight scored the final seven points in a 9-2 stretch, and her jumper tied the score for the fifth time at 63-63 with 7:04 to go. Buchanon stopped the run with a jumper, and the Trojans never gave up the lead the rest of the way.

The Eagles play two Sun Belt road games this week, beginning at Texas State Thursday. Following Saturday's league game at UL Monroe, Georgia Southern opens a five-game homestand against Appalachian State Jan. 29, in Hanner Fieldhouse.

All-session ticket books for this year's Sun Belt Conference Basketball 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.