HARRISONBURG – Three Panthers scored in double-figures as Georgia State fell 62-57 to James Madison at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Saturday afternoon.

Mikyla Tolivert led all Georgia State (8-11, 2-4 Sun Belt) with 17 points, shooting 8-of-15 from the floor with four assists.  Deasia Merrill scored 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting with six rebounds, and Mya Byrd scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting with three three-pointers, five rebounds and four assists.

Down by 56-48 with 4:20 left, GSU rallied as Deasia Merrill converted on a three-point play to pull the Panthers within five.  Then after a James Madison (16-2, 6-0) free throw, Mikyla Tolivert hit a layup with 3:26 left to pull within four. 

A JMU jumper then pushed the deficit back to six before Tolivert came through again, hitting a jumper with 1:52 left and a layup with 1:14 remaining to pull the Panthers within two, but Georgia State would get no closer.

The Panthers trailed 10-8 in the second quarter when Deasia Merrill hit a layup with 6:14 left.  Then after a James Madison free throw, Mya Byrd and Mikyla Tolivert hit back-to-back three pointers to put GSU up 16-11.

James Madison shot just 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from three and missed their first 10 three-point attempts, but five of their made three-pointers came in a pivotal 15-4 run with 4:58 left in the second to take the lead for good.

GSU led 6-4 after a sluggish first quarter which saw both squads score just 10 points on a combined 4-of-23 shooting.

Georgia State returns home for the first game of a four-game homestand beginning on Thursday, January 19 against Coastal Carolina.  Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m.