STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's basketball completed a perfect weekend at the GATA Turkey Throwdown with an 81-59 win over Detroit Mercy on Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles (5-2) stretched their win streak to three with the victory over the Titans (4-3) and was the only team to finish the tournament with a 2-0 mark. In the earlier game of the Throwdown, USC Upstate defeated North Florida, 73-60, in a matchup of former ASUN rivals.
Georgia Southern led by one, 8-7, with 5:25 remaining in the first quarter, but ended the period on a 16-6 run to take a 24-13 lead at the end of the frame. The Eagles stretched that lead to 13 at halftime, 42-29, then shot a blistering 63.2 percent (12-of-19) in the third quarter to build an unassailable 69-44 lead at the end of three and cruise to the victory.
The Eagles finished the game shooting 45.2 percent from the floor (33-of-73), while Detroit Mercy shot just 35.6 percent (21-for-59) on the evening.
Terren Ward notched her fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 24 points to go with 10 rebounds. Zaria Johnson added 11 points and Lydia Freeman chipped in 10 points. Detroit Mercy was led by Irene Murua's 17 points and Imani McNeal's 10 points.
Eagle of the Game
Freeman notched her second 10-point outing of the last four games by hitting 5-of-6 shots from the field in 12 minutes of action. She also grabbed four rebounds and added an assist and a blocked shot on the evening.
Stat of the Game
The Eagles forced 27 turnovers, committing a season-low 12, and enjoyed a tremendous 30-9 edge in points off turnovers over the Titans.
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the energy of playing on a second straight day
"I was really pleased to see that. We talked about the Vitamin E - energy, effort and efficiency, and I thought we came out with that. We shot the ball better, we played better defense. We got more production from different people, so that was good to see. And our assist to turnover ratio was better than it was yesterday. Finally, forcing 27 turnovers, that's what we're looking to do."
Coach Howard on forcing the 27 turnovers by the Titans
"We talked about dictating on defense. I thought yesterday, we were allowing UNF to do what they wanted. Today, I wanted to dictate what Detroit did. We did a good job of taking away their inside game, did a better job getting back in transition on defense. From yesterday to today, I liked what I saw, and I'm glad we won the Throwdown."
Next Up
The Eagles return to the road on Wednesday, November 29, visiting FIU for a 3 p.m. contest against the Panthers in Miami.
