STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern women's basketball used a 14-0 run midway through the second quarter to pick up a 79-51 victory over visiting Thomas University on Monday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Eagles picked up a second straight win and moved to .500 on the season at 3-3, while Thomas, an NAIA school out of Thomasville, Ga., suffered the loss in the contest that was considered an exhibition for the Night Hawks. Georgia Southern returns to action on Wednesday, hosting in-state rival Savannah State in a 6:30 p.m. tilt at Hanner Fieldhouse.

Georgia Southern opened up the contest on an 8-1 run, getting all eight of its points off of Thomas University turnovers, but the Night Hawks hit a pair of three-pointers en route to taking a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. Thomas had a one-point lead midway through the second quarter when a Hailey Dias-Allen basket at the five minute mark sparked the 14-0 run over a three and a half minute stretch to give the Eagles a 34-21 advantage. Georgia Southern would carry that double-digit lead into the break as the Eagles led 38-28 at halftime.

"We ended up starting to trap," Head Coach Kip Drown said of the run. "We created 10 turnovers in the second quarter, and that allowed us to get out and run a bit. But we weren't efficient finishing. We were more efficient in the second half, I thought." 

The Eagles clamped down defensively in the third quarter, holding Thomas without a field goal over the final 4:10 of the period in stretching its lead to 59-44, then continued to play solid defense in giving up just seven points in the fourth quarter to the Night Hawks. Georgia Southern forced 28 turnovers on the night and held Thomas to just 33.9 percent shooting from the floor (19-of-56), including 21.3 percent from three-point range (3-of-13). Georgia Southern won the rebounding battle, 39-34, but Thomas had more offensive rebounds (15-14) and led in second-chance points (12-10).

"Two areas that we were focusing on getting better were turnovers and offensive rebounds," Coach Drown said. "We've still got room to go. We turned it over 20 times tonight and we've got to work on that. We also gave them 15 offensive rebounds, and coming into the game that was their number one strength. We didn't keep them off the glass like we needed to. It's still a work in progress."

Five Georgia Southern players reached double figures, led by freshman Sarah Moore's 12 points - her first collegiate points as an Eagle - off the bench. Jakayvea Akins added 11 points, while Alexis Foulks, Nakol Franks and Amira Atwater each scored 10 points. The Eagles shot 50.8 percent from the floor as a team (31-of-61), and hit 4-of-15 three-pointers (26.7 percent).