Breakout By The Numbers: GS Women's Basketball Makes Leap Forward In 2021-22
4/6/2022 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
School records, program bests and national rankings highlight third season of the Anita Howard era
STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's basketball took a giant leap forward during Head Coach Anita Howard's third season at the helm of the Eagles, as the team achieved several firsts throughout the campaign. A closer look at the numbers, however, reveals just how big of a leap the Eagles took in 2021-22.
Georgia Southern finished the season with an 18-10 overall record, which was the most wins for Eagle women's basketball since 2009-10 - more than a decade. The .643 winning percentage was even better, as the last time the Eagles had that high of a winning percentage came in 2002-03, the last 20-win season for the program.
Hanner Fieldhouse became a huge home court advantage as the Eagles went 12-3 at home, the best home record since 2007-08, and the Eagles sported an outstanding 9-3 non-conference record, the best since 1990-91. Signature wins included the season-opening 68-66 win at Auburn, the first win over an SEC opponent since 2005, as well as five straight Sun Belt Conference wins from January 29 through February 27, the longest conference winning streak in Sun Belt history for the Eagles.
But how did the Eagles reach these heights this season? It comes down to three main facets of basketball - scoring, opportunistic defense and rebounding.
The Eagles finished the 2021-22 season ranked fifth out of 348 NCAA Division I programs in both scoring offense (79.3 ppg) and rebounding offense (46.4 rpg). The scoring average was a new single-season program record, breaking the 79.1 ppg achieved by the 1994-95 squad. The rebounding average was the fifth-best in a single season in school history, and the 1300 total rebounds ranked seventh-best in a single season.
Georgia Southern reached the century mark against three different opponents this season, which is the first time that has happened in program history, and the team broke the single-game scoring record in back-to-back contests, against Gardner-Webb (121 pts) on December 11, then against Carver (133 pts) on December 13. The 133-15 win over Carver was the second-largest margin of victory by an NCAA Division I women's basketball program in history.
The third category - opportunistic defense - refers to the Eagles' outstanding numbers in steals per game (11.0), ranking 12th in NCAA Division I, and in turnovers forced per game (20.3), ranking 15th in the nation. Put all of that together and you have a Georgia Southern squad that was ranked in the Top 10 nationally in pace of play for a second consecutive season.
The Eagles were the fifth-highest rated team in the Sun Belt Conference in the NET rankings. Statistically, Georgia Southern was the top-ranked team in the league in scoring offense, scoring margin (+10.9) and in steals per game.
Georgia Southern was also second in the league in rebounding offense, and second in the league in blocked shots. The Eagles blocked 110 shots this year, which was the second-most in a single season in Georgia Southern history.
This all helped the Eagles not only pick up their first Sun Belt tournament win in program history - an 88-79 win over Georgia State in the opening round of action on March 2 - but Georgia Southern not only notched a regular season win over tournament champion UT Arlington on January 15, but played the Mavs the closest of any team during the 2022 Sun Belt Championships.
Sophomore Terren Ward was not only named a second-team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, but she was in the inaugural recipient of the Sun Belt Sixth Woman of the Year award. Ward had back-to-back 30+ point games against App State and Coastal Carolina, the first time that's happened for an Eagle since 1991, and she also had four double-doubles in a row from January 22 through February 5, the first time that's happened since 1991-92.
Ward and Mya Burns each earned Sun Belt Player of the Week honors during the year, giving Georgia Southern six Sun Belt Player of the Week honors over the last three seasons - and by five different student-athletes.
Georgia Southern accomplished all of this with a squad that still featured only three seniors - fourth-year senior Tsubasa Nisbet, transfer Rachel Johnson and grad transfer Maya Banks. There's no reason that the Eagles can't make yet another jump in 2022-23, contending for a Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament title!
