STATESBORO, Ga. – Makeba Ponder netted 20 points, knocking down four 3-pointers, and Georgia State shot 55 percent from the field to earn an 82-54 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Thursday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Angel McGowan posted 20 points and three assists to lead Georgia Southern (4-16, 1-10), while Patrice Butler tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double in the last three contests.

Alisha Andrews tallied 16 points and five assists and combined with Ponder to hit 8-of-17 from long distance for Georgia State (9-12, 4-8). Kennesha Nichols finished with 11 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Andrews hit back-to-back triples and Gaby Moss added seven points in a 17-2 run that opened a 19-4 Panther lead early in the contest. Georgia State came out red hot and made its first seven shots from the floor.

McGowan scored seven points in a 14-4 Eagle run that trimmed the margin to 33-24 late in the half, but the Panthers scored the final eight points of the period and led 41-24 at halftime.

"I thought we took a punch early and made a nice run to punch back and get back in the game," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "They made another push right before halftime, and we never recovered." 

Georgia State broke the game open with a 13-3 spurt to open the second stanza. Nichols scored six points during the run, and Andrews added a 3-pointer to put Georgia State up 54-27 2:45 into the second half. The margin grew to as many as 31 on a Mariam Hannon layup with 19 seconds left.

The Eagles continue their five-game homestand against ULM Saturday at 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. It's Pack the House in Pink, an event designed to raise awareness about breast cancer and aid in the fight against the disease.

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.