Monday, Dec. 22
Hot-Shooting Eagles Top Southern in Gator Holiday Classic
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Freshman Abby Hix scored a career-high 19 points, and Georgia Southern hit 11 3-pointers to earn a 68-52 women's basketball victory over Southern University in the consolation game of the Gator Holiday Classic Monday afternoon in the O'Connell Center.
Hix earned all-tournament honors after averaging 15 points and nailing eight triples in the two games. She made 5-of-9 from long distance to lead five Eagles in double-figure scoring today.
Anna Claire Knight recorded 12 points and six rebounds, and Angel McGowan posted 11 points and four steals. Alexis Sams chipped in 11 points and five assists, while Briana Jones registered 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Cortnei Purnell led Southern (2-8) with 20 points, scoring 14 in the second half, and Jasmine Jefferson collected eight points and seven rebounds. Briana Green netted eight points.
The Eagles (3-6) held their opponent under 38 percent shooting from the field for the second straight game while connecting on 44 percent on the offensive end and hitting 11-of-25 from 3-point range.
"We shot the ball with more confidence, like we knew it was going to go in, and I thought our rhythm and flow offensively, although it wasn't bad yesterday, it was even better today," said Georgia Southern coach Chris Vozab. "We cut hard and sharp, we were willing to make the extra pass and see people when we got doubled inside and we had great kick-outs. It was really fun basketball to watch."
The Eagles held Southern to 21 points on 30 percent shooting to build a 33-21 lead at the break, and a Hix 3-pointer early in the second frame made the margin 14. Southern scored four straight points to work the margin to 52-44 with 8:57 remaining but would get no closer. Leading 57-48, Hix and McGowan put in consecutive layups and Knight added a pair of free throws to make the margin 15 points with 3:25 to go.
Georgia Southern never trailed in the game and jumped out to a 10-3 lead with the help of triples by Sams and McGowan. Leading 25-18, the Eagles scored six straight points to push the margin to 13 points with 3:06 to play in the frame before settling for a 12-point cushion at halftime.
"I'm so proud of our defensive effort," said Vozab. "We guarded the 3-point line well, and we dug out rebounds out of scramble situations in our zone. We displayed better grit on the defensive end and better confidence on the offensive end for much of the game."
It was the final non-conference game of the season for the Eagles. Georgia Southern takes a break for the Christmas Holiday before playing the first Sun Belt Conference game in program history when the Eagles travel to UT Arlington for a Dec. 30 meeting. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (Eastern).
A-State Drops Non-Conference Tilt at FGCU
JONESBORO, Ark. (12/22/14) – The Arkansas State women’s basketball team concluded the non-conference portion of its regular-season schedule Monday night with a narrow 74-68 setback against Florida Gulf Coast at the Convocation Center.
The Red Wolves (5-5) had its nine-game home winning streak snapped, while the Eagles (10-2) collected their fourth straight victory.
A-State was led by junior guard Aundrea Gamble with 23 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs, to collect her first double-double of the season. She was joined in double figures by Hanna Qedan with 10 points, although the senior guard scored all 10 in the first half.
The Red Wolves bench outscored the Eagles’ reserves 22-11, but all five FGCU starters, including junior guard Kaneisha Atwater with a team-high 18 points reached double figures. She scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half to lead the Eagles back from a 34-29 halftime deficit.
“I’m proud of my team and we knew coming into this that this was a really good Florida Gulf Coast team from the results and success they have had this year and I’m proud of my team for the way we responded against them,” A-State head coach Brian Boyer said. “The defensive effort in the first half was just tremendous and the way we battled to hold them to 29 points in the opening 20 minutes was great. We never really go them under control in the second half which is disappointing, but a lot of good things happened tonight and the only real criticism was what we had too many turnovers, but other than that I thought we played a really good game.”
A-State, which held its largest lead of the game at 26-18 with 5:06 left in the first half, scored on its first possession of the second half to go ahead by seven. However, FGCU went on a 16-4 run over the following five minutes to take a 45-40 lead.
The Eagles maintained their lead until the 7:03 mark when Gamble hit a pair of free throws to give the Red Wolves a 59-58 advantage. Continuing to go back-and-forth, the score was tied 65-65 with 1:50 to play when FGCU began a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.
Junior forward Khadija Brown-Haywood was fouled on a layup and converted a three-point play to pull the Red Wolves back within three, 71-68, with 26 seconds remaining, but FGCU hit 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Both teams improved their field goal percentage in the second half as A-State finished with a .458 mark and FGCU a .467 percentage. While only one foul separated the two team’s totals, the Red Wolves hit 19-of-22 shots at the charity stripe while the Eagles made 9-of-13 attempts.
Gamble tied the Convocation Center record for free throw percentage in a game, making 13-of-13 attempts. The previous high for most free throws made while shooting 100 percent was 11. Gamble’s 12 rebounds were also only one shy of her career high and helped give A-State a 37-24 advantage on the boards.
Trailing 11-10 eight minutes into the contest, Arkansas State went on a 7-0 run to take a lead it would hold the remainder of the first half. The Red Wolves held a 34-27 advantage with 1:22 left in the half, but FGCU hit a pair of free throws with 36 second remaining to set the halftime score.
Arkansas State returns to action and opens Sun Belt Conference play Dec. 30 at South Alabama. The game is set for a 5:05 p.m. tip and can be heard live on 95.3FM The Ticket/970AM KNEA or online at AStateRedWolves.com.