STATESBORO - Georgia Southern broke open a two-point halftime game with a 30-point third quarter to pick up an 81-56 Sun Belt Conference and Southern vs. State Rivalry Series women's basketball victory over visiting Georgia State on Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
A Hanner Fieldhouse crowd of 1,619 witnessed the Eagles (6-12, 3-4 SBC) snap a four-game losing streak and a seven-game streak against the Panthers (4-14, 1-6 SBC) with the win. The victory also earned a point in the 2019 Southern vs. State Rivalry Series for Georgia Southern and the Eagles currently lead the standings, 5.0-3.0, going into tonight's men's basketball contest between the two schools.
It took about five minutes for both offenses to get in gear, but Nikki McDonald's seven points in the frame led Georgia Southern to a 15-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Tatum Barber then helped the Eagles stretch that lead to 10 points, 29-19, midway through the second quarter as she hit for 12 of her 15 first-half points in the period. But Georgia State closed that gap to just two, 32-30, at the break.
The pivotal third quarter started with the Eagles stretching their lead to five, 39-34, after a Tsubasa Nisbet layup and a time out by the Panthers with seven minutes left in the period. From then on, the Eagles outscored the Panthers by a 23-4 margin, closing out the period with a commanding 24-point advantage.
Barber led a trio of Eagles in double figures with 21 points, while McDonald finished with 15 points and Mya Burns was a rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards. Jada Lewis led Georgia State on the day with 16 points.
Eagle of the Game
Barber hit 7-of-9 shots from the floor, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, en route to her game-high 21 points. It's the third time in her career that Barber has hit five threes in one contest, and she added seven rebounds while also drawing a pair of charges in the contest.
Key Moment
After the media time out in the third quarter with the Eagles leading by five, Georgia Southern hit 10-of-13 shots from the floor in pushing their advantage to 22 points. Included in that stretch were seven fast-break points and a pair of three-pointers.
Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern continued its dominance on the glass by outrebounding the Panthers by a 46-24 margin. The +22 rebound margin is the third time this season the Eagles have outrebounded an opponent by more than 20 boards.
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the big crowd against Georgia State
"It meant a lot. When you hit a big shot, you have the fans cheering. When you take a charge and everyone gets excited. We talk about spirit raising performance, and that's exactly what it did. We definitely needed that. We had a huge third quarter, and I would like to see more quarters like that where we were able to stops together and also score."
Coach Howard on the significance of the win
"I hope it shows us how good we are. We talked about strength in numbers. We played everybody, and everybody contributed something. We need to use this win to propel us to put together some other wins along the way. I hope we can carry that over."
Tatum Barber on the game today against the Panthers
"It's a rivalry game, they're always fun. I knew that I had to come out and be my best. I was just coming out, enjoying the moment, enjoying the crowd and having fun. The crowd's a big part, when you're making shots and they're cheering loud, you get to just enjoy the moment. Paying with my team, playing together and having fun was a big part of this win."
Next Up
Georgia Southern hits the road next week to head to Conway, S.C., for a showdown with Coastal Carolina on Thursday, January 30th, at 6 p.m.
