STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's basketball moved back to .500 on the season with an 84-60 non-conference win over visiting North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Georgia Southern Eagles (10-10) played the NC Central Eagles (3-7) after COVID-19 issues forced the cancellation of two games against Coastal Carolina slated for this weekend in Hanner Fieldhouse. In the first meeting between the two teams, Georgia Southern picked up the win by using a dominating post presence, getting a 52-18 edge in points in the paint against short-handed NC Central.

Georgia Southern led by 20 at halftime, 47-27, but North Carolina Central was able to cut the lead to just nine, 66-57, with five minutes left in the contest. Georgia Southern freshman Terren Ward hit a three-pointer out of a media time out to spark a 12-0 run and finally put the game out of reach.

Ward's 13 points led a trio of Eagles in double figures on the day, while freshman Lydia Freeman notched her first career double-digit scoring game with 12 points. Sophomore Shondell Vickers added 10 points off the bench as well.

North Carolina Central was led by Faith Williams' 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range, along with 3-of-4 from the foul line. Promise Cunningham added 11 points and Anissa Rivera collected a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Eagle of the Game
Freeman set her new career high in points by hitting 6-of-7 shots from the floor for 12 points, besting her previous high of nine points, set at South Alabama on January 2. She also grabbed a pair of rebounds and did so in just 10 minutes and 16 seconds of action on the floor, more than a point a minute.

Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern dished out 21 assists for a second time this season in the win - the first time coming in the Eagles' 96-91 win over Troy on February 5. 

Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the 21 assists against North Carolina Central. 
"We're better when we share the ball. At times we didn't share the ball, and we allowed NC Central to come back a little bit. But when we play together, we play much better. We still had way too many turnovers though." 

Next Up
The Eagles will take on North Carolina Central again at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Hanner Fieldhouse in their final regular season game of 2020-21 at home.