Georgia Southern used an early 15-0 run in the second quarter to race past Georgia State, 74-49, in Sun Belt Conference women's basketball action on Thursday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles halted a three-game home slide with the victory, improving to 14-6 overall and 6-5 in the league. Georgia State fell to 10-14 overall and 4-7 in the league with the loss.
The first quarter saw both teams struggle from the field early as Georgia State made just two of its first 10 shots from the floor and the Eagles made just one of its first nine. But back-to-back three-pointers from Le'Andrea Gillis put the Eagles in front late in the period and Georgia Southern took a 19-13 lead into the second quarter.
After a bucket by Tehya Lyons for the Panthers, Georgia Southern embarked on its 15-0 run that covered the next five minutes, staking the Eagles to a 34-15 lead with 4:41 left until halftime. Georgia Southern took a 43-28 lead into the break.
The Panthers would get as close as 12 points, on a Mikyla Tolivert layup with 1:53 left in the third quarter, but Georgia Southern would end the period on a 6-0 run to end the threat and cruise to the victory. The 49 points are the fewest given up by the Eagles to a Sun Belt team since Georgia Southern defeated UL Monroe, 64-47, on January 2, 2020.
Terren Ward led all scorers on the night for the Eagles with 19 points, while Gillis finished with 17 points. Tolivert led Georgia State with 16 points on the evening and Christeina Bryan chipped in 10 points off the bench.
Eagle of the Game
Gillis scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half as she made 5-of-9 threes before the break. After going 0-for-7 from three-point range against ULM and Louisiana on January 21 and 26, Gillis has gone 11-of-23 from long range in her last two games against Troy and Georgia State.
Stats of the Game
Georgia Southern enjoyed a 22-5 edge in points off of turnovers against the Panthers and got 54 bench points, compared to just 18 for Georgia State.
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the win over the Panthers
"We needed that. I was glad to see we shook off those last two losses, came out here and put on good showing for the fans in Hanner. Eagle Nation has been showing up for our ladies. I think we shot the three well tonight. We didn't live by the three or die by the three, but instead took the right shots at the right time."
On the defensive pressure against Georgia State
"I didn't want us to take the foot off the gas. Georgia State, to their credit, didn't give up, and they came back a few times. I told our ladies, don't look at the score, play each possession like it was a game-winning possession."
Next Up
Georgia Southern hosts James Madison on Saturday in a 2 p.m. Sun Belt Conference contest against the Dukes. It will be Salute to Service day as well.