FARMVILLE, Va. - Georgia Southern women's basketball concluded non-conference play with an 87-65 win over Longwood on Friday afternoon in Farmville, Va.
The victory stretched the Eagles' win streak to eight and also moved Georgia Southern to 10-2 on the year. It's the most non-conference wins for the Eagles since the 1990-91 team went 11-4 before NSWAC play. Longwood falls to 2-9 on the season with the loss.
Georgia Southern opened up the game on a 20-7 run as Simone James had eight points and Terren Ward had six during the first five minutes. The Eagles stretched that lead to 17, 41-27, at the break and Longwood would not get closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Ward led a trio of Eagles in double figures with 25 points, tying a career-high with six made three-pointers, while Simone James added 13 points and Kayla Thomas chipped in 12 points off the bench. Anne-Hamilton Leroy led the Lancers with 23 points.
Eagle of the Game
Thomas - playing in front of friends and family from nearby Maryland - registered season-highs in points with 12 and rebounds with nine in 17 minutes of action. She went 6-for-9 from the floor and had five offensive rebounds on the day.
Stat of the Game
The Eagles collected 59 rebounds in the contest, and outrebounded the Lancers by a dominating 34-10 margin in the second half.
Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the dominating win to end non-conference play with 10 wins
"That just lets us know that we're progressing in the right direction in where we want to be. We don't just want to be dominant in the Sun Belt, we want to be dominant across the country. To get a road win like this against a Longwood team that was picked fourth in their league, I'm really pleased with the effort."
On the dominating play inside, particularly Kayla Thomas
"I like our size on the inside. This is what I brought Kayla here to do, be a presence - really be a defensive presence for us, but I'll take a double-double from her any night. For her to play big going into the Christmas break, I hope this is a momentum shift for her to let her know what she can do for our program."
Next Up
The Eagles will open up Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday, December 30, traveling to San Marcos, Texas, to take on Texas State at 3 p.m. ET.
