Ga. Southern GS 11-6,2-3 Sun Belt

Georgia St. GSU 7-9,1-3 Sun Belt

Ga. Southern GS

11-6,2-3 Sun Belt

Final

Jan. 22, 2022

Georgia St. GSU

7-9,1-3 Sun Belt

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Ga. Southern GS	8	10	24	14	56
Georgia St. GSU	20	10	14	14	58

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 1/22/2022 2:46:00 PM

Merrill's Buzzer Beater Lifts Panthers over Georgia Southern

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1/27/2022 | 6:00 PM

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ATLANTA -- Deasia Merrill's putback at the buzzer gave Georgia State a 58-56 victory over rival Georgia Southern Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State led the entire game until a 3-pointer by the Eagles' Daeja Holmes tied game at 56-all with 26 seconds left. With the clock running down Georgia State point guard Tehya Lyons found Kamryn Dziak in the corner. Dziak missed the 3-pointer, but Merrill ripped the rebound away from Georgia Southern's Mya Burns and her short jumper from the baseline was good.

"We ran a high on-ball screen for Tehya, and we had Dziak in the corner," head coach Gene Hill explained. "Tehya made the right read, passing the ball to Dziak, and Dziak had a great look. Earlier she knocked down two of those. But Deasia made the next play. I'm just really proud of the young ladies and how they competed."

Merrill agreed with her coach. "I just didn't give up," she said, "and I guess I was in the right place at the right time. It feels great - it's always a great day to beat Georgia Southern."

Ashley Foster led the Panthers (7-9, 1-3 Sun Belt), who earned their first Sun Belt Conference win of the season, with 16 points, along with four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Georgia State held the Eagles (11-6, 2-3) to just 24 percent (17-for-70) shooting from the field.

Georgia State jumped out to a 20-8 lead after the first quarter as Georgia Southern managed just two field goals in the period while the Panthers connected on 53 percent. After an even second quarter, Georgia State led 30-18 at the intermission.

"We've tried to focus on forcing teams to take tough shots and making sure we are taking quality shots," Hill said. "Tonight we did a much better job with that, and that allowed us to be able to build a lead in the first half and then we were able to execute there at the end."

Georgia Southern chipped away in third quarter and then managed to get within 47-45 with eight minutes to play, but Dziak's second straight trey extended the Panthers' lead to 50-45.

A layup by Elexus Bell, seeing her first action of the new year for Georgia State, gave the Panthers a 56-50 lead with two minutes to play, but the Eagles inched closer on a putback by Terren Ward. Then Ward's free throw made it 56-53 with one minute left before Merrill was called for a charge on a drive to the basket, setting up Holmes' tying 3-pointer.

Although Foster was the only Panther in double figures, nine different players contributed to a balanced scoring attack. Dziak finished with nine points on three 3-pointers, Lyons had eight points and Merrill six. Alyssa Phillip pulled down six rebounds.

Georgia State continues its five-game homestand, hosting South Alabama Thursday at 6 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena.

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