STATESBORO - In a reversal from Thursday's contest between the two teams, Georgia State held off a furious fourth-quarter rally from visiting Georgia Southern to pick up a 71-66 Sun Belt Conference victory on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.
Georgia State improved to 10-7 overall and 6-4 in the Sun Belt, while Georgia Southern fell to 9-10 overall and 5-7 in the Sun Belt. The Panthers halted a three-game slide to the Eagles in the 50th matchup between the two teams in series history.
Georgia Southern opened up the contest by hitting 8-of-14 shots from the floor, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, in building a 22-13 lead with a minute left in the first quarter. Georgia State, however, used a pair of technical free throws at the end of the first quarter to spark a 21-9 run that lasted all the way until Tehya Lyon's buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the half. The Panthers went up by three, 34-31, at the break.
In the third quarter, the Eagles cut the Panther deficit to just one, 42-41, on four straight points from Eden Johnson, but again the Panthers beat the buzzer with a three-pointer by Kamryn Dziak to give Georgia State a 45-41 lead after three.
Georgia State pushed that lead to 12 on two occasions in the fourth quarter, leading 66-54 with 2:54 left on another three from Dziak. That's when the Eagles started their comeback, getting a reverse-four point play as Ja'nya Love-Hill made a free throw, then got her own rebound on a missed free throw and found Mya Burns for an open three-pointer that made the score 66-58 with 2:12 left.
Daeja Holmes cut the lead to five, 68-63, with 21 seconds left with a three, then after just one made free throw from Dziak, Tatum Barber drilled a three-pointer with 5.3 seconds left to make it 69-66. The Eagles deflected the inbounds pass after a time out, but a foul was called and Hannah Sadler made a pair of free throws to clinch the victory.
Burns finished the contest with 15 points and eight rebounds to lead the Eagles, while Love-Hill had 10 points and five assists. Ashley Foster had 11 points to lead the Panthers, with Sadler chipping in 10.
Eagle of the Game
Love-Hill reached double digits for the first time this season, hitting 3-of-8 shots from the floor and 4-of-6 free throws for 10 points. She also notched a career-high in assists with five, while adding three rebounds in 25 minutes of action at the point.
Stat of the Game
The Eagles scored just nine points in the second quarter. Georgia Southern has lost 23 straight games when scoring single digit points in a quarter, dating back to the Coastal Georgia game on Dec. 14, 2018, when the Eagles won 68-46 despite scoring just seven points in the third quarter.
Quotables • LISTEN TO FULL POSTGAME COMMENTS HERE
Head Coach Anita Howard on the contest against the Panthers
"I definitely am not pleased with how we came out for the entire game. We typically play good on the first night, then relax on the second night. And this league you can't relax. Hats off to Georgia State, they fought the whole way, even hitting the three at the buzzer at half. But we just sat back and allowed them to dictate the tempo. So that's something we'll talk about when we get back to Statesboro."
Next Up
The Eagles will return to action on Tuesday, traveling to Conway, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina in a 4 p.m. Sun Belt Conference contest. This is the rescheduled contest from the weekend of January 29-30.
