STATESBORO - A short-handed Georgia Southern squad battled until the end against James Madison women's basketball on Thursday evening, but the Eagles fell to the Dukes by a 71-65 score at Hanner Fieldhouse.
James Madison (19-9, 11-4 SBC) swept the season series from the Eagles (14-14, 4-11 SBC), a season after Georgia Southern swept the series from the Dukes.
The Dukes opened up the contest on a 9-0 run and held a 20-13 lead after the end of the first quarter. James Madison stretched that lead to 10, 38-28, at the break.
Georgia Southern began its comeback in the third quarter, cutting the double-digit lead to just three, 41-38, on a steal and a layup in transition by Simone James with 4:17 left in the period.
James Madison stretched that lead back out to 10 points, 55-45, on a Peyton McDaniel jumper with 7:31 left in the game, but Georgia Southern again would cut the lead to single digits, getting a three-pointer from Zaria Johnson to make the score 63-60 with 2:29 left. But the Eagles could not get closer than that the rest of the way.
The free throw line is where the game would be decided in the fourth quarter as James Madison went 14-of-15 from the line in the period, while the Eagles went just 6-of-13.
Zaria Johnson tied a season high in points with 16 to lead Georgia Southern, while Ja'nya Love-Hill added 13 points and six assists and Diamond Stokes chipped in 10 points. Peyton McDaniel's 16 points led the Dukes on the day, with Ashanti Barnes adding 12 points.
Eagle of the Game
Johnson hit 5-of-10 shots from the floor, including 4-of-7 three-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws en route to her 16 points, matching the 16 points she had in the season opener back on November 8 against Allen. She added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot on the day.
Stat of the Game
In the pivotal fourth quarter, James Madison hit 14-of-15 free throws (93.3 percent) while the Eagles hit just 6-of-13 free throws (46.2 percent).
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the effort against James Madison
"We tried to battle in the first half because we knew they were a first half team. We were able to win the second half but we just had too many turnovers, we didn't rebound well enough and we gave up too many free throws while we didn't knock ours down. All in all it was a valiant effort on our part, but we've got to be able to do a little bit better to come away with a win."
Next Up
The Eagles will host Coastal Carolina on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. It will be Senior Day for Georgia Southern with a pre-game ceremony for the Eagles' seven seniors, as well as a special jersey retirement ceremony at halftime honoring all-time greats Phylette Blake, Regina Days-Bryan and Trina Roberts.