ATLANTA - Alisha Andrews scored 18 points and Brittany Logan had her third straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Georgia State women's basketball team to its fifth straight win with a 63-55 victory over South Alabama Thursday at the GSU Sports Arena.
Georgia State improved to 10-10 overall and 6-2 in the Sun Belt Conference, tied with Western Kentucky for second place in the league standings. South Alabama dropped to 6-12, 4-4 SBC. It also avenged GSU's earlier season loss at South Alabama.This is Georgia State's first five-game winning streak since a six-game streak in 2009-10.
Andrews, the 4-11 point guard, was 8-for-11 from the field with two 3-pointers while contributing five assists and three steals. She leads the Sun Belt with her 96 assists.
Senior Kendra Long added nine points, seven rebounds and five steals.
Georgia State built a 31-16 halftime lead, thanks to a 12-0 run to turn a 10-8 deficit into a 20-10 lead. In the second half, the host Panthers built that to a game-high 24 points at 44-20 with 15:04.
But, the league's top 3-point shooting team wasn't done. South Alabama then began a run with five 3-pointers and had closed all the way back to 58-53 with 1:43 left. An assist on an inbounds play from Andrews to a cutting Kayla Nolan resulted in a lay-up and free throw to put GSU back up by eight, 61-53, with 1:22.
"The kids are fighting hard now and believe in themselves," coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener. "We play them one game at a time and five straight is really nice, but we just worry about being ready for the next game on Saturday. Obviously, the goal is to finish at the top of the league and get the number one seed in the March tournament.
"The first half defense might have been the best half of team defense we've played all season," coach said. She was speaking of the defense that held South Alabama to just 16 points and 19.4% shooting on 6-of-31, including just 1-of-13 behind the arc in that first half.
"We switched up some defenses in the first half, got some shots to fall during those runs and did some good things overall," Baldwin-Tener added. "Give South Alabama credit for making it a tough game."
The game had been postponed a day due to the snow in Atlanta and the school was still closed today as the game was played. South Alabama had to spend their first night on the bus trying to get to their hotel in Buckhead in an adventure they'll never forget.
GSU scored 42 points in the paint today, got 15 fast-break points and got 20 points from the bench.
Georgia State plays host to newcomer UT Arlington on Saturday night in a doubleheader for Sun Belt TV on Comcast (CSS) with a tip time of 6 p.m. as the Panthers will look to extend the streak to six straight wins. GSU is 3-0 at home this year in the Sun Belt and 5-2 overall.
NOTEBOOK:
- The five-game win streak is the first since Nov. 27-Dec. 19 in the 2009-10 season when the Panthers won three at home and three on the road. This current streak is all in-conference games and includes three on the road and two at home.
- This is the fourth team GSU has held to 59 or fewer points this year, with the 55 one more than allowed at Kennesaw State and the same as the points allowed at Kent State. All three of those were wins.
- GSU's 12 steals mark the eighth game this year with 10 or more for a team that averages just over nine steals a game.
- The Panthers shot 77.8% from the line, just above their 70-plus season percentage that leads the Sun Belt Conference.
- Haley Gerrin did not dress this game (injury), her second missed game in the past five.
- Brittany Logan has upped her total the past three games. The 6-foot-4 post player has scored 42 points and grabbed 36 rebounds in these three games.
- Kendra Long continues her ascent up the career scoring chart, moving into 15th place tonight with a career 1,140 points, passing Sherry Stinchcomb (1978-82). Long needs eight more points to pass Brownie Caldwell and 14 more to pass Pam Miller and slide into 13th place.
- Freshman Jamila Mayfield blocked two more shots tonight to up her team-best total to 12 on the season. She's got those blocks in a season total of just 79 minutes, the equivalent of less than four full games.
- Georgia State had a +10 rebound advantage, grabbing 44 to 34 for South Alabama. GSU had 15 offensive boards.
