JACKSONVILLE - Jacksonville University hit 5-of-8 three-pointers in the third quarter, then made a defensive stand late to come away with a 61-59 victory over Georgia Southern women's basketball on Thursday night at Swisher Gymnasium.

The Eagles (2-2) suffered their second straight road loss and remain winless at Swisher in four tries against the Dolphins. Jacksonville improves to 2-1 on the season with the win.

A game that was tight throughout saw neither team lead by more than six points at any time in the contest. Jacksonville led by one, 13-12, after the first quarter, but Georgia Southern was able to take a one-point lead at halftime, 24-23, thanks to eight first-half points from senior Lydia Freeman.

In the second half, Jacksonville - who went 0-for-6 from three-point range in the first half - started to hit from beyond the arc, hitting 5-of-8 threes to neutralize senior Terren Ward's 10 points in the quarter.

The fourth quarter began tied at 45-all and stayed tight all the way to the final second. Georgia Southern led, 55-53, on a layup by Eden Johnson with 3:34 left, but JU went on a 5-0 run to take a 58-55 lead with 1:39 left. Free throws allowed JU to stretch that lead to four, 61-67, with 25 seconds left, but Ja'nya Love-Hill hit a pair of free throws to make the score 61-59. The Eagles had a last chance to tie or take the lead with seven seconds remaining, but a turnover gave the ball back to the Dolphins and Georgia Southern never got the ball back.

Ward's 14 points - 12 in the second half - led a trio of Eagles in double figures on the night. Eden Johnson added 12 points and Lydia Freeman chipped in 10. Edyn Battle led the Dolphins on the night with 18 points.

Eagle of the Game
Freeman finished the night with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds - six offensive - to give the Eagles a huge presence inside. It was her first double-digit scoring performance since hitting for 15 against Chicago State on Dec. 9, 2022.

Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern hit just 1-of-14 from three-point range on the night, the lowest three-point percentage for the Eagles since Nov. 27, 2021, when the team went 0-for-14 vs. Indiana State.

Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the game against JU
"We always talk about slow starts. And regardless of the quarter, we seem to start out slow, and when we're on the road, it's hard to bounce back from that. We're a little discombobulated and not playing like ourselves right now. And we're still in a funk from the UGA game that we can't shake off. Terren [Ward] has to be more disciplined, this is her second straight game fouling out. But this game gives us more film. I'm not worried about losing, as long as we're learning. Tonight was another game where we struggled to score the basketball and we've got to do a better job of that."

Next Up
The Eagles return home to Hanner Fieldhouse to take on Albany State on Monday, November 20, at 6 p.m.