STATESBORO - Georgia Southern opened up action in the GATA Turkey Throwdown with a 72-57 victory over visiting South Carolina State on Friday afternoon to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Georgia Southern's 5-1 start is the best for the Eagles since 1981-82, when the Eagles started 7-1 en route to a 26-win campaign. South Carolina State remained winless on the season, falling to 0-5. In the second game of the tournament, Jacksonville State came from behind to down Indiana State, 67-57.
The Bulldogs scored the first points of the contest, but the Eagles embarked on a 12-3 run to take charge of the game early. Georgia Southern led by a 24-11 score at the break, then pushed that lead to 16, 42-26, at halftime.
South Carolina State climbed back into the contest by scoring the first six points of the third quarter and eventually cut the Eagles lead to just five, 62-57, on a layup by Rakyha Reid with 6:24 left in the contest. But the Eagles held the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way to collect the victory.
Terren Ward's 21 points led all scorers on the night for the Eagles, while Taya Gibson collected 10 points off the bench. South Carolina State was led by Nicole Gwynn's 17 points.
Eagle of the Game
Ward hit 8-of-15 shots from the floor, including 2-of-4 from three-point range and all three free throws. She added six rebounds as well.
Stats of the Game
The Eagles dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs by a 52-33 margin. The bench also contributed well to the win as Georgia Southern had 48 bench points, compared to just 28 points for South Carolina State.
Quotables • HEAR FULL POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM COACH HOWARD
Head Coach Anita Howard on the win against the Bulldogs
"We were a little sluggish. Hats off to South Carolina State, they really fought and competed. They made us have to play, where we thought we could take our foot off the gas coming out of halftime. They just came out with a little more fire than we did. I told our ladies that some games are going to be pretty, and some games are going to be ugly, but we found a way to finish out the game."
Next Up
The GATA Turkey Throwdown concludes on Saturday, with South Carolina State taking on Jacksonville State at 1 p.m., then host Georgia Southern facing Indiana State at 3:30 p.m.
