Coach Vozab audio interview with Colin Lacy (MP3)STATESBORO, Ga. – Ayriel Anderson tallied 16 points and five assists, and Texas State shot 52 percent in the second half en route to a 79-65 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse.
It was the first Sun Belt home game in program history for the host Eagles (3-8, 0-2).
Patrice Butler led the way with a career-high 24 points, including 20 in the second half, and the sophomore made all 11 of her free throws.
Angel McGowan scored 18 on 7-for-10 shooting, and
Briana Jones contributed eight points and five rebounds.
Erin Peoples posted 13 points and 11 rebounds for Texas State (7-4, 2-0), and Kileah Mays added 10 points and five rebounds. Raven Burns netted 12 points off the bench, and Ericka May posted eight points and five rebounds.
Texas State used a 9-2 run to open a 20-10 lead midway through the first half as Meghan Braeuer hit a 3-pointer and Mays scored two baskets. May scored six straight points to push the margin to 34-20 with 4:28 left in the half, and the Bobcats went into halftime with a 39-26 cushion.
Trailing by 18 early in the second frame, Butler scored seven points to help cut the lead to 12, and the Eagles got three straight stops but could not convert on the offensive end. A layup by Jones got the margin to 10 points with 12:07 remaining, but Burns answered with a triple from the corner and the margin never dipped below double digits the rest of the way.
"We had more of an attack mindset in the second half," said Georgia Southern coach
Chris Vozab. "Patrice and Angel were very aggressive, and we gained confidence from them. We can't allow there to be a feeling out period with our opponents. We have to be aggressive from the start. Texas State is obviously a very good basketball team, but we got on our heels early and allowed them to dictate what happened the whole first half."
Georgia Southern shot 41 percent from the floor and committed just 11 turnovers, but the Bobcats made them count, converting them into 18 points.
"We didn't have a lot of turnovers in terms of numbers, but the ones we did have led directly to baskets by Texas State," said Vozab.
The Eagles start a two-game road trip at Arkansas State Thursday, Jan. 8. Tipoff is slated for 6:05 p.m. (Eastern).
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