MONROE, La. - Georgia Southern opened up the second half on a 19-5 run to collect an 83-68 Sun Belt Conference victory over host UL Monroe on Thursday evening, keeping its hopes of a first-round bye in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference tournament alive.

The Eagles (17-8, 8-5 SBC) notched their sixth win out of their last seven games and will now finish the Sun Belt slate above .500 for the first time since joining the league in 2014-15. ULM falls to 4-23 overall and 0-13 in Sun Belt competition.

Georgia Southern took an 18-11 lead in the first quarter as Daeja Holmes hit three three-pointers in the final three minutes and 11 seconds of the period. Holmes hit another two in the second quarter as the Eagles extended their lead to 42-26.

Out of the break, ULM scored the first two points, but Simone James' three-pointer sparked the 19-3 run that put the game out of reach as Taya Gibson's layup capped the outburst with 3:56 left in the period with Georgia Southern leading 62-31.

Holmes' season-high 15 points led a trio of Eagles in double figures. Gibson finished with 12 points and Ja'nya Love-Hill added 11. ULM placed four players in double figures, led by Kyren Whittington and Kierra Brimzy, who had 15 points each. Aasia Sam had 11 and Linda van Schaik notched 10.

Eagle of the Game
Holmes knocked down a career-high five threes on 11 attempts en route to her season-best 15 point output. She added four assists as well in the contest for her third double-digit scoring output of the season.

Stat of the Game
The Eagles knocked down 10 of 22 three pointers for their second-best performance of the year from long range, trailing only the 14-of-25 output vs. Gardner-Webb on December 11.

Quotables • HEAR FULL POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM DAEJA HOLMES AND COACH HOWARD
Head Coach Anita Howard on the spark from Daeja Holmes in the first half
"Daeja is a phenomenal shooter. We call her 'Logo Daej' for a reason. It was good to see her get comfortable, good to see her grow up a little bit and show people what she can do. We needed some scoring on the road and she gave us a big boost."

On the possibility of securing a first-round bye in the Sun Belt tournament, still a possibility after tonight
"It'd be awesome. But at the end of the day, we want to win just one game at a time. We took care of ULM tonight, the score looks like we dominated the game, but they never gave up, They kept fighting until the end. But I'm pleased with our young ladies."

Next Up
The Eagles wrap up the regular season on Saturday, facing Louisiana in Historic Earl K. Long Gymnasium in Lafayette at 3 p.m. ET.