ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia tallied 50 second-half points to pull away from visiting Georgia Southern women's basketball in picking up an 85-59 victory over the Eagles on Monday evening at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Eagles (2-1) suffered their first loss of the season and also fell to the Bulldogs (2-1) for the 23rd straight time, dating back to 1981.
Georgia ended the a 7-2 run to build a 17-10 lead after the first quarter. The Bulldogs extended that lead to 35-22 at the break, but Georgia Southern came out in the third quarter and cut the lead to eight, 45-37, with a pair of free throws from junior Torrion Starks.
The Bulldogs ended the frame on a 16-1 run, however, to build a 61-38 advantage and collect the victroy.
The nation's leading rebounding team coming into the contest outpaced the Bulldogs on the boards, 56-48, including a 27-17 edge on the offensive glass, but the Eagles shot just 29.3 percent from the floor and hit just 3-of-16 three-pointers (18.8 percent) in the contest.
Senior Terren Ward led the Eagles on the evening with 22 points, while senior Simone James added 15 points. Four Bulldogs reached double figures on the night, led by Javyn Nicholson's 14 points and 14 rebounds. De'Mauri Flournoy and Taniyah Thompson added 13 points apiece, while Fatima Diakhate added 10 points.
Player of the Game
James hit 6-of-11 shots from the floor, including a three-pointer, and went 2-for-2 from the line for her 15 points. She added five rebounds - four offensive - and a pair of blocked shots in the contest.
Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern grabbed 20+ offensive rebounds for a third straight contest, the first time that's happened since January 22-29, 2022, in Sun Belt games against Georgia State, Troy and South Alabama.
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on tonight's game against the Bulldogs
"Today was a test that we needed. We talk about playing strong non-conference opponents, and today UGA showed up as one of those strong opponents. I'm not pleased with how we started, one of our Achilles' heels has been starting slow. We picked it up later but it was just a little too late against a solid opponent."
On the second-half technical fouls
"I want to apologize to my team. I want to fight for what I believe to be right, but that's not the behavior I want to show my team or my opponents, so to Eagle Nation, I do want to apologize for that. But this game won't define us."
Next Up
Georgia Southern concludes its two-game road swing on Thursday, taking on Jacksonville University in a 6:30 p.m. contest in Jacksonville, Fla.
