SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State women's basketball responded to an early Georgia Southern run by holding the Eagles to just 3-of-32 shooting from three-point range in picking up a 69-58 victory on Tuesday evening at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.

The Bears remained unbeaten on the season, improving to 5-0, while Georgia Southern suffered its third straight loss to move to 1-3. The loss also spoiled the homecoming for Eagle head coach Hana Haden, who grew up in Springfield and played high school basketball locally at Kickapoo HS. The meeting was the first between the two schools as well.

The Eagles jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the game's first two minutes and 27 seconds thanks to three steals, including back-to-back baskets by Shanti Simmons.

Georgia Southern held that lead at the end of the first quarter, 17-9, but Missouri State would take a one-point lead into halftime, 30-29, by outscoring the Eagles by a 21-12 margin in the second quarter.

Missouri State extended its lead in the third quarter thanks to hitting 12-of-14 free throws in the frame, taking a 52-42 lead in the fourth.

The Eagles used a 9-1 run midway through the fourth quarter to get the game back to within five points, 58-53, but Missouri State immediately responded with a 7-0 run over the next minute and a half to extend the lead back to double digits and clinch the victory.

Missouri State outrebounded the Eagles by a significant 58-36 margin, and also went 21-of-35 from the foul line, compared to the Eagles' going just 11-of-21.

McKenna Eddings was the only Eagle to reach double figures on the night with 15 points, while Missouri State was led by 21 points from Lanie Douglas and 14 points from Kaemyn Bekemeier.

Eagle of the Game
Eddings hit 6-of-10 two-point shots en route to her team-high 15 points, while adding four assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern outscored the Bears by a 20-9 margin in points off of turnovers, forcing 24 turnovers on the evening.

Quotables
Head coach Hana Haden on tonight's contest against the Bears
"Getting dominated on the glass makes it really tough. I thought that if we could get out in transition, we could have some success, but we can't do that when we don't rebound the ball. We showed some resilience in the fourth quarter, that group did fight back and that probably will be some good things to learn from because I thought when we had the chance to cut into it more, we made some critical mistakes."

Next Game
Georgia Southern will be next in action on Saturday, November 22, hosting in-state rival Mercer in a 6 p.m. contest at the Jack and Ruth Ann Hiill Convocation Center.