STATESBORO, Ga. - Senior Sierra Butler's first double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds was not enough for Georgia Southern women's basketball as the Eagles fell to visiting IUPUI, 72-52, on Monday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Jaguars (8-2) won their second straight while handing the Eagles (3-7) their fourth loss in a row. Georgia Southern will host its final non-conference game of the 2017-18 season on Thursday, facing Stony Brook at 2 p.m. at Hanner.
The two teams combined for just one basket made in the game's first five minutes as the Eagles led, 2-1, on an Alexis Brown jumper. After the first quarter media time out, however, IUPUI embarked on a 15-2 run to close out the period and take a 16-4 lead into the second quarter.
The Jaguars shot 61 percent from the floor (11-of-18) in the second quarter to lead 41-17 at the break, then continued to shoot well in the third quarter, hitting 50 percent of their shots to extend the lead to 33 points, 63-30, just before the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Georgia Southern had its best offensive quarter, hitting 7-of-14 shots, including 3-of-4 threes in outpointing the Jaguars 20-9 to make the final margin 20 points.
"I'm proud of our kids that they kept playing hard until the end," Head Coach Kip Drown said. "That says a lot about them. But we'll go back tomorrow, clip the fourth quarter and show them, 'Hey, here are the shots we got and here's why we got them.'Â We had better ball movement in the second half and got the ball inside to Sierra [Butler].
"I told our kids at halftime that the problem wasn't with our defense," Drown said. "It was our offense. We were rushing and taking bad shots, the turnovers and run outs after bad shots were putting our defense in a hole. We played hard in our man defense and did a good job of it. But in the second half, we did a much better job offensively."
Butler's 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor were the second-highest output of her career, and her double-double was the third of her career. Alexis Brown and Nakol Franks each added eight points apiece for the Eagles.
IUPUI placed a quartet of players in double figures, led by Macee Williams' 18 points, with Jenna Gunn adding 13 and the duo of Tamya Sims and Holly Hoopingarner each chipping in 11 points.
The Eagles finished the night shooting 34.5 percent from the floor (19-of-55) but shot a season-best 54.5 percent from three-point range (6-of-11) and knocked down 8-of-12 free throws (75 percent). IUPUI shot 44.4 percent from the floor (28-of-63) but hit only 3-of-17 three-pointers (17.6 percent) and 13-of-19 free throws (68.4 percent). The Jaguars won the turnover battle (16 vs. 21) and outrebounded the Eagles by a 42-33 margin, including an 18-12 edge on the offensive glass.
