LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Keanna Keys tallied a career high 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds and did not miss a shot in the game while leading UALR to a 60-43 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon in the Jack Stephens Center.
Angel McGowan scored 15 points to lead Georgia Southern (4-19, 1-13), and
Patrice Butler posted eight points and four rebounds.
Keys was 11-of-11 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line for a perfect shooting day. Shanity James collected nine points and six rebounds for the Trojans (21-3, 14-1) as the Eagles held leading scorer Taylor Gault to four points and a 2-of-10 afternoon from the field.
"I thought we did a good job with their guards, making them catch the ball where we wanted and containing their drive, but they have so many weapons," said Georgia Southern coach
Chris Vozab. "When you take away one aspect of their offense, it leaves you vulnerable somewhere else, and they were able to take advantage with Keys."
After trimming an early deficit to 16-12 with 9:33 left in the first half, the Eagles managed just one more field goal the rest of the period. Meanwhile, UALR used a 15-3 spurt to take control of the contest and went into halftime with a 28-15 lead at the break. Kiera Clark, Keys and James each scored four points during the stretch.
The lead grew to as many as 16 points early in the second half before a triple by
Abby Hix capped an 8-3 Eagle run and made the score 37-28. The margin was 41-32 after a
Briana Jones layup with 9:28 left, but Keys scored eight straight points, pushing the advantage to 50-36 with 4:53 remaining. The lead never dipped below double digits the rest of the way.
UALR, which leads the nation in scoring defense, held the Eagles to 26 percent shooting from the floor, and Georgia Southern stayed in the game with the help of a 14-of-16 performance from the free-throw line.
The Eagles return home for two contests next week, starting with a matchup against Troy Thursday on Faculty/Staff Appreciation night. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
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.
