PENSACOLA, Fla. – Georgia State and Marshall survive and advance on to the fourth round of the Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship.
Game 5: (12) Georgia State 70, (8) Georgia Southern 64 [Box Score]
12-seeded Georgia Southern’s season came to an end after falling to eight-seeded Georgia State, 70-64.
Mikayla Tolivert led all scorers with 20 points and was a rebound away from a double-double with nine. Tolivert, the leagues steal leader, had four on the day while tagging on three assists.
Georgia State opened up the game with a 10-point lead. The Eagles cut it to five thanks to a layup at the buzzer by Bukky Akinsola to go down just 20-15.
Battling back in the second, the Eagles outscored the Panthers 23-13 and would head into the locker room with all the momentum as Nakiyah Mays-Prince would drain a near half-court shot at the buzzer. The bucket gave the Eagles a 38-33 lead at the half.
Akinsola was stellar for Georgia Southern in the first half going 5-5 from the field, went 2-2 both from beyond the arc and at the line.
The Panthers responded in the third with a 16-3 run that would regain them the 53-50 lead at the end of the third.
Neither team took its foot off the gas as the Eagles got within one with just over a minute to play, before Mahogany Matthews nailed a three to give the momentum back to the Panthers and secure the win.
Georgia Southern ends its season under first year head coach Hana Haden with a 16-18 record.
Georgia State advances on to play five-seeded Old Dominion tomorrow at 11:30 am.
Game 6: (11) Marshall 48, (7) Louisiana 46 [Box Score]
11-seeded Marshall came out on top of seven-seeded Louisiana in a 48-46 battle in the third round.
Marshall has now won three games in three games and were once again led by Aislynn Hayes, who led all scorers with 21 points. She was the only member of the Herd in double-digits but was supported by Meredith Maier who had a near double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Louisiana was led by Skylah Travis, who registered a 13 point, 15 rebound double-double in the matchup.
For the second consecutive game Marshall started cold, while a well-rested Louisiana team shot 40.0 percent from the field and got out front by eight at the end of the first quarter.
Marshall made up ground by going on a 8-0 run in the second to cut the Louisiana lead to just 22-25 heading into the locker room.
Down three at the half, Marshall started the second half hot. Maier would tie the game for the Herd with a baseline three, followed by a steal and a fast break layup from Hayes. On a 11-0 run, Louisiana was forced to call timeout midway through the third quarter.
Physical play would continue with the lead being exchanged by the two teams, with Louisiana holding the two-point lead heading into the fourth.
Marshall was able to knot thing up with Hayes sinking a pair of free throws, followed by another Maier three. With 2:30 left to play, Timberlynn Yeast would hit a jumper to give them the lead.
Louisiana would have the ball with the clock running down, looking to take the last shot down 46-48. Ashlyn Jones would look to feed the ball down low but sent it out instead giving the Herd back the ball with three seconds left on the clock, securing the Marshall victory.
Louisiana ends its season with a 13-16 record overall.
Marshall is the last remaining double-digit seed in the women’s bracket and have won three games in three days heading into their matchup with six-seeded App State on Friday.
2025 Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship
Tuesday, March 4
Game 1 – (12) Georgia Southern def. (13) Southern Miss, 70-59
Game 2 – (11) Marshall def. (14) South Alabama, 73-59
Wednesday, March 5
Game 3 – (12) Georgia Southern def. (9) ULM, 75-69
Game 4 – (11) Marshall def. (10) Texas State, 68-62
Thursday, March 6
Game 5 – (8) Georgia State def. (12) Georgia Southern, 70-64
Game 6 – (11) Marshall def. (7) Louisiana, 48-46
Friday, March 7
Game 7 – (5) Old Dominion vs. Winner Game 5 – 11:30 a.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 8 – (6) App State vs. Winner Game 6 – 2 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Saturday, March 8
Game 9 – (4) Coastal Carolina vs. Winner Game 7 – 12:00 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 10 – (3) Troy vs. Winner Game 8 – 2:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Sunday, March 9
Game 11 – (1) James Madison vs. Winner Game 9 – 11:30 a.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 12 – (2) Arkansas State vs. Winner Game 10 – 2 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Monday, March 10 (Championship)
Game 13 – Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 – 1 p.m. CT [ESPN/ESPN2]