The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team outrebounded Wofford 47-33, Saturday afternoon and held on for a 62-56 Southern Conference victory at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
With the win, Georgia Southern improves to 14-9 overall and 10-2 in SoCon play. The Lady Eagles win their third consecutive contest, which completes the season sweep over the Terriers.
Wofford drops its ninth-consecutive game and falls to 9-13 overall and 2-9 in conference play.
Both teams struggled from the field, neither team hitting more than 38 percent from the field. Georgia Southern made 18-of-56 (.321) field goal attempts, while Wofford held the slight edge, going 19-of-50 (.380) from the field.
The Georgia Southern effort from the foul line proved to be the difference as the Lady Eagles hit 15-of-23 (.718) attempts from the charity stripe, compared to Wofford’s 14-of-26 (.538) outing.
“I thought we never got in a rhythm the whole night,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “Credit their defense for that. Offensively, I just don’t think we ran the show very well on our side of the ball for some reason. That’s why we’ve got to redirect it. And we will tomorrow.”
Senior guard Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) paced the team with 14 points and eight rebounds, going 5-of-12 from the field. Senior guard Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) followed with nine points and seven rebounds, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Georgia Southern started out with a 7-0 run including a pair of buckets by Atwood and a triple by Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.).
Wofford responded with a 10-3 run over the next seven minutes to pull within one point 11-10, which was the smallest margin of the game.
Both teams got into foul trouble towards the end of the first half which sent them to the foul line for a combined 20 times. Eight of Wofford’s 21 first-half points came from the free-throw line as the Terriers made 8-of-11 of their free-throw attempts. Georgia Southern went 8-of-9 from the charity stripe and the Lady Eagles held a 29-21 advantage going into the locker room. Atwood paced the team with eight points.
Wofford began the second half with a pair of back-to-back baskets by Mahogany Williams to close the gap to four points, 29-25.
But Georgia Southern built up a 10-point lead that was capped by Atwood’s jumper with 15:12 remaining in the game.
Wofford’s Kristin Bradley came off the bench after a timeout and knocked down two back-to-back triples to close the GSU lead to four points, 48-44, with 8:05 remaining.
Wofford was able to keep it close for the remainder of the game. Georgia Southern made six free-throws in the last couple minutes and played a tight defense that held off Wofford’s late comeback effort and the Lady Eagles secured the victory.
Georgia Southern will continue its four-game road trip as it faces Furman, Monday in Greenville, S.C. Tip-off at Timmons Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
With the win, Georgia Southern improves to 14-9 overall and 10-2 in SoCon play. The Lady Eagles win their third consecutive contest, which completes the season sweep over the Terriers.
Wofford drops its ninth-consecutive game and falls to 9-13 overall and 2-9 in conference play.
Both teams struggled from the field, neither team hitting more than 38 percent from the field. Georgia Southern made 18-of-56 (.321) field goal attempts, while Wofford held the slight edge, going 19-of-50 (.380) from the field.
The Georgia Southern effort from the foul line proved to be the difference as the Lady Eagles hit 15-of-23 (.718) attempts from the charity stripe, compared to Wofford’s 14-of-26 (.538) outing.
“I thought we never got in a rhythm the whole night,” said head coach Rusty Cram. “Credit their defense for that. Offensively, I just don’t think we ran the show very well on our side of the ball for some reason. That’s why we’ve got to redirect it. And we will tomorrow.”
Senior guard Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) paced the team with 14 points and eight rebounds, going 5-of-12 from the field. Senior guard Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) followed with nine points and seven rebounds, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Georgia Southern started out with a 7-0 run including a pair of buckets by Atwood and a triple by Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.).
Wofford responded with a 10-3 run over the next seven minutes to pull within one point 11-10, which was the smallest margin of the game.
Both teams got into foul trouble towards the end of the first half which sent them to the foul line for a combined 20 times. Eight of Wofford’s 21 first-half points came from the free-throw line as the Terriers made 8-of-11 of their free-throw attempts. Georgia Southern went 8-of-9 from the charity stripe and the Lady Eagles held a 29-21 advantage going into the locker room. Atwood paced the team with eight points.
Wofford began the second half with a pair of back-to-back baskets by Mahogany Williams to close the gap to four points, 29-25.
But Georgia Southern built up a 10-point lead that was capped by Atwood’s jumper with 15:12 remaining in the game.
Wofford’s Kristin Bradley came off the bench after a timeout and knocked down two back-to-back triples to close the GSU lead to four points, 48-44, with 8:05 remaining.
Wofford was able to keep it close for the remainder of the game. Georgia Southern made six free-throws in the last couple minutes and played a tight defense that held off Wofford’s late comeback effort and the Lady Eagles secured the victory.
Georgia Southern will continue its four-game road trip as it faces Furman, Monday in Greenville, S.C. Tip-off at Timmons Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
