STATESBORO - Sun Belt Conference-leading Coastal Carolina used a 13-2 run midway through the third quarter to pick up a 90-74 women's basketball victory over host Georgia Southern on Thursday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Eagles fell to 8-17 overall and 5-9 in the Sun Belt, while Coastal Carolina remained atop the league standings at 22-3 overall and 12-2 in the league.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair where Georgia Southern hit seven three-pointers, but Coastal Carolina rode reigning National Player of the Week DJ Williams' 13 first-half points to a 40-39 lead at the break. 

In the third quarter, Alexis Brown's two free throws tied the game at 49-all with 5:21 remaining in the period. That's when Coastal embarked on its 13-2 run over the next two and a half minutes, capped by an Aja Blount three-point play to push the Chanticleers lead to 62-51. Georgia Southern would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Four Georgia Southern players reached double figures on the night, led by Tatum Barber's career-high 31 points. Nikki McDonald and Jaiden Hamilton finished with 13 points while Alexis Brown chipped in 11. Coastal Carolina was led by a pair of double-doubles from Aja Blount (29 pts, 14 rbs) and Williams (21 pts, 11 rbs).

Eagle of the Game
Barber eclipsed her previous high of 28 points, set at Troy on Feb. 16, 2019, by hitting 9-of-20 shots from the floor - 5-of-12 from three-point range - and also knocking down 8-of-10 free throws. She added seven points, four assists and four steals on the night as well.

Stat of the Game
Coastal Carolina hit 19-of-30 shots from the floor in the second half (63.3%), while Georgia Southern hit just 10-of-41 shots from the floor after halftime, a shooting percentage of 24.4%.

Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard's overall commments on the game against Coastal Carolina
"We tried to take points away from the paint, which is something they got a lot of earlier. But it kinda got away from us. We allowed them to score 20+ points in every single quarter, and we didn't do a good job defensively in the second half. We cut down on our turnovers tonight, which is something we wanted to work on. We gave up 27 last time, only 12 tonight. But when they score 46 points in the paint and you get outrebounded by 10, it's tough to beat."

Next Up
Georgia Southern hosts Appalachian State on Senior Day, Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles will honor their six seniors - McDonald, Brown, Amira Atwater, Hailey Dias-Allen, Nakol Franks and Victoria Stavropoulos in a pre-game ceremony.