ATLANTA - Junior Tatum Barber's three-pointer with 22.3 seconds snapped a 70-all tie and propelled Georgia Southern women's basketball into the 2020 Sun Belt Conference tournament with a 77-74 victory over host Georgia State on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta.
The Eagles improve to 10-19 overall and 7-11 in the Sun Belt, while Georgia State ends its season at 8-21 overall and 5-13 in the league. Georgia Southern will now travel to a site to be announced later tonight for first-round tournament action on Tuesday, March 10.
Georgia Southern took a 19-15 lead in the first quarter, thanks in large part to senior Amira Atwater coming off the bench and delivering four assists - breaking the all-time assist record with her 420th career assist. She broke the record of 419, set by Danna Simpson (1998-2002).
The Eagles took a three-point lead into halftime, 37-34, then extended that lead to 10 points, 57-47, at the end of the third quarter.
Georgia State rallied late in the fourth quarter, eventually using back-to-back fastbreak layups by Tehya Lyons to tie the game at 70-all with 44 seconds left.
Georgia Southern head coach Anita Howard called time out, and on the next possession, the Eagles got a pair of offensive rebounds before Barber sprung free on the left wing and drilled her tie-breaking three-pointer to give the Eagles the lead.
Taylor Henderson missed a jumper on the next possession for Georgia State, and Georgia Southern then went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 12 seconds to clinch the victory.
Barber and Hailey Dias-Allen each ended up with 16 points to lead five Eagles in double figures. Nikki McDonald registered her third straight double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Amira Atwater and Alexis Brown each chipped in 10.
Eagle of the Game
Barber's three-pointer capped a day in which the junior hit 2-of-5 three-pointers and nailed all six of her free throw attempts. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern hit 24-of-31 free throws for 77.4 percent, tying a season-high for free throws made in a Sun Belt game this season with the 24 free throws they made against Troy on January 16.
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on what the win over Georgia State means and securing the Sun Belt tournament berth
"It means Southern Not State. Hail Southern! That's what we made it about. We wanted ot make sure it was Southern Not State. Overall I'm super excited. This was a hard-fought road battle, and it means a lot - especially going into the tournament - that we were able to close out the game down the stretch. On Tatum's play, that's something we've been working on, trying to make we get the offensive rebound and the shot off. It looked like practice, and it paid off."
Amira Atwater on the game and breaking the all-time assist record
"Tatum had a lot to do with it, she knocked down some big shots. It meant a lot to be at home and to get the record."
On the tie-breaking three hit by Tatum
"There was no doubt, Tatum rises up in big moments. I was pretty excited that she hit it, but we're going to the tournament now. We've been through so much, but this game meant win or go home. We stepped up in a very big moment. We fought all the way for 40 minutes, and that meant a lot."
Tatum Barber on the tie-breaking three
"We practice about being ready for the moment. We say, 'don't look at the score, don't look at the time, just shoot your shot.' But it felt good, it went in and I'm doing whatever I can to help the team. It means a lot, we've had a lot of ups and downs this year. But to secure our spot in the tournament, and we have a lot of basketball left to play. It's going to be a lot of fun this week."
