MOBILE, Ala. - Georgia Southern women's basketball opened up the fourth quarter on a 21-0 run, helping the Eagles overcome a double-digit halftime deficit and claim a 68-56 Sun Belt Conference victory over host South Alabama on Thursday evening at the Mitchell Center in Mobile.
The Eagles won their fifth straight to improve to 16-7 overall and 7-4 in the Sun Belt, while South Alabama fell to 8-14 overall and 2-7 in the Sun Belt, dropping its sixth straight contest.
South Alabama built a 13-point halftime lead, thanks to hitting eight three-pointers and enjoying a 19-2 edge in points off of turnovers.
The Eagles cut the South Alabama lead to seven, 52-45, with 3:07 left in the third quarter, but the Jaguars held Georgia Southern off the scoreboard the rest of the period to take a 54-45 lead into the fourth quarter.
Lydia Freeman's offensive rebound and bucket opened the fourth quarter for the Eagles and sparked the 21-0 run that lasted until Dee Haymer made a layup with 47 seconds left for the Jaguars' only points of the quarter. South Alabama went 1-for-15 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 0-of-9 from long range, and committed seven turnovers.
Reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Terren Ward led the Eagles offensively with 21 points, while Daeja Holmes added 11 points that included a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from long range. Casey Ferguson led South Alabama by going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc for 15 points, while Jaylin Powell added 13 points.
Eagle of the Game
Ward notched her fifth double-double in her last seven games with her 21 points to go with 12 rebounds. She hit 7-of-14 shots from the floor, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, and knocked down all four free throws. She added three blocked shots as well on the night..
Stat of the Game
South Alabama scored a basket with 58 seconds left in the third quarter, then did not score again until Haymer's layup with 47 seconds left in the game - a third time this season that the Eagles have held the opposing team scoreless for more than 10 minutes.
Quotables • HEAR FULL POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM COACH HOWARD
Head Coach Anita Howard on the 21-0 run to start the fourth quarter
"I think we finally settled down and locked in defensively. We talked about defense had to travel on the road, I thought we did a really good job late. Once we started getting stops, we started hitting shots. And once we started hitting shots, we started getting momentum."
Next Up
The Eagles visit first-place Troy on Saturday, taking on the Trojans in Sun Belt Conference action at 5 p.m. ET from Trojan Arena.
