STATESBORO - Simone James' career-high 24 points and a dominating effort on the glass helped Georgia Southern women's basketball knock off the College of Charleston, 83-65, on Friday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse in the final non-conference contest of the year for the Eagles.
The win stretched Georgia Southern's win streak to six and the 8-1 start to the 2022-23 campaign is now officially the second-best start in school history, behind only the 11-1 start that the 1979-80 team put up. The College of Charleston fell to 5-4 on the season with the loss.
Both teams came out hot from the field, shooting 50%+ from the field as Georgia Southern led by two, 24-22, at the end of the period. The Cougars embarked on an 11-1 late in the second quarter and took a one-point lead into the break, 37-36.
In the second half, the Eagles held the Cougars to just 22.5% shooting from the floor, putting an exclamation point on the comeback win with a 26-point fourth quarter in notching the victory.
James' 24 points led all scorers on the night, while Terren Ward recorded her third double-double in her last four games with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Lydia Freeman set a new career-high with a game-high 12 rebounds and Constance Thomas amassed 10 points. Jaila Roberts led the College of Charleston with 20 points.
Eagle of the Game
James hit 8-of-10 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, and knocked down four of five foul shots en route to her career-best 24 points. She also set a new career high with five steals, adding five rebounds and three assists.
Stats of the Game
Georgia Southern outrebounded the College of Charleston by a 53-34 count, the +19 rebounding margin is the fifth straight game in which the Eagles have outrebounded their opponent by double digits.
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the first half and second half difference
"I thought that the College of Charleston did a phenomenal job. They're picked second in their league and they showed you why. They played us tooth and nail. I was actually pleased going into halftime because I knew it could have been a double digit lead for them. But it allowed us to fine tune some stuff, fix some things and get back to our style of play in the second half, playing intense defense and picking up our tempo."
Next Up
Georgia Southern will break for Christmas and return to action on Thursday, December 29, hosting Texas State in its Sun Belt Conference opener with a 5 p.m. tip at Hanner Fieldhouse. It will be a doubleheader with the men's team, who faces South Alabama at 8 p.m. that night as well.
