STATESBORO - Georgia Southern's Terren Ward and Ja'nya Love-Hill combined for a game-deciding 11-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to lead the Eagles to a 71-61 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over visiting Georgia State on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena.
The Eagles improved to 13-7 overall and 4-4 in the Sun Belt with the win, while Georgia State fell to 8-11 overall and 2-5 in the league with the loss. Georgia Southern also avenged a two-point buzzer-beating 58-56 loss at Georgia State just two weeks ago to split the season series with the Panthers.
Both teams started off hot from the floor, shooting 50% as Georgia Southern took a 10-7 lead into the first media time out. Georgia State outscored the Eagles by a 20-10 margin in the second quarter to build a 31-24 lead at halftime
In the second half, the Panthers stretched that lead to 11, 35-24, after a pair of Alex Gitchenko layups to start the period, but Georgia Southern answered with a 11-0 run to tie the game at 35-all with 4:59 left in the quarter.
The game stayed back-and-forth until early in the fourth quarter when Love-Hill hit a jumper in the paint to spark the 11-2 run over a two and a half minute stretch that put the Eagles up 58-51 with 4:39 left. Love-Hill had eight of her career-high 17 points in that run while Ward added a three-pointer three of her game-high 22 points. Georgia State would get no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Eagles of the Game
Love-Hill eclipsed her previous scoring high of 13 points, set twice previously, by hitting 8-of-12 shots from the floor for her 17 points. Ward, meanwhile, recorded her fourth straight double-double with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, to go with 10 rebounds.
Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern hit 10-of-14 shots from the floor in the deciding fourth quarter (71.4%) and also knocked down 7-of-8 free throws (87.5%)
Quotables • HEAR FULL POSTGAME COMMENTS FROM JA'NYA LOVE-HILL AND COACH HOWARD
Head Coach Anita Howard on a second straight win when trailing at halftime
"We talked about it before the game, but we started off a little bit slow. I gave them that halftime speech again, I don't know what it is, but I guess it works. Hats off to Gene [Hill, Georgia State head coach] but I'm glad we were able to get this win."
Next Up
The Eagles continue their five-game homestand on Thursday, hosting Appalachian State for a 6 p.m. contest against the Mountaineers at Hanner Fieldhouse.