STATESBORO, Ga. – Junior Nakol Franks hit a pair of free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining to lift the Georgia Southern women's basketball team to a 77-76 victory over visiting Bethune-Cookman on Sunday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The win was the first in five tries for the Eagles (2-4) against the Wildcats (3-2). The back-and-forth affair featured 13 lead changes, with the last one coming at the latest possible moment. Georgia Southern held a 75-74 lead and had the ball with 16 seconds left, but a turnover on the inbounds pass resulted in a fast break basket by Kiana Williams that put Bethune-Cookman up by one, 76-75.
The Eagles advanced the ball into the frontcourt and into the hands of junior Alexis Brown, who had a career-high 27 points on the day. Her baseline drive to the basket was blocked, but Franks picked up the offensive rebound and was fouled on her shot attempt. Franks calmly stepped to the line - where she missed just five times all of last season - and drained the two free throws to put the Eagles ahead. A half-court heave by the Wildcats was short and Georgia Southern picked up its first home win of the year.
Eagle of the Game
Alexis Brown hit 7-of-14 shots from the floor, including three three-pointers, while hitting 10-of-13 free throws en route to her 27 points. It was the most points for an Eagle player in a game since Patrice Butler had 27 points at Arkansas State on Feb. 25, 2017.
Key moment
Holding a slim one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, Bethune-Cookman started the final period on an 8-1 run to take its largest lead of the game, 64-56, with 7:33 remaining. Sophomore Tatum Barber hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Eagles to spark a 13-3 run over the next four minutes to reclaim the lead.
Stat of the Game
The Eagles outrebounded the Wildcats by a 48-32 margin, including a 19-10 edge on the offensive glass. The +16 rebounding margin was the largest for Georgia Southern over an opponent in nearly two years (+16 vs. Savannah State, Dec. 1, 2016)
Quotables
From Alexis Brown on the close one-point win:
"We got to play through it, we've got to do whatever it takes to get the win. This win shows us that if we play the full 40, we can come out on top. When we take possessions off, we tend to get into holes. We played the full 40 minutes tonight. "
From Tatum Barber on her threes and offensive rebounding:
"I'm just thinking 'get open.' If I get the chance to shoot the shot, I've got to knock it down. Hopefully my team gets my rebound if I miss it. Offensive rebounds help us offensively. I'm just trying to do whatever I can on the boards. I found myself open in the corner and knocked it down."
From head coach Kip Drown
On the last two possessions:
"We had a mixup, they get the layup, luckily we had another time out. We ran a play so that AB could attack off the dribble. I thought she might get a call, the ball went up. Nakol came off of a double screen, slipped down and got the rebound for us."
On the victory:
"Hopefully we can build on this. I was proud of the competitiveness we showed tonight. For the most part, we ran things well; we got good looks and got on the foul line. Tatum made two big threes in the fourth quarter, when we were down seven, shot us back into it. We had a lot of people had big nights tonight. Hailey, switching back to the 4, has found her niche, and contributed a lot."
Next up
The Eagles will travel to Kennesaw, Ga., for a 7 p.m. contest at Kennesaw State on Wednesday, November 28th, in Georgia Southern's final contest before breaking for final exams.
