Pounce. Old Dominion vs. Georgia State March 1, 2023 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center, Pensacola Florida. (Jimmie Mitchell)

Georgia St. GSU 12-21,5-13 Sun Belt

Old Dominion ODU 21-11,12-6 Sun Belt

Georgia St. GSU

12-21,5-13 Sun Belt

Final

Mar. 01, 2023

Old Dominion ODU

21-11,12-6 Sun Belt

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Georgia St. GSU	12	10	12	22	56
Old Dominion ODU	12	13	20	21	66

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 3/1/2023 7:47:00 PM

Panthers Fall Short vs. ODU in Sun Belt Tourney

PENSACOLA, FLA -- Deasia Merrill scored 22 points and Mikyla Tolivert had a double-double with 18 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, but Georgia State's upset bid fell short as the 12th-seeded Panthers fell 66-56 to No. 5 seed Old Dominion in the second round of the Sun Belt Championships Wednesday at the Pensacola Bay Center.

After falling behind by 16 with nine minutes to play, the Panthers (12-21) rallied to pull within two points with three minutes left. Tolivert, who was 12-for-13 at the free throw line, hit a pair of foul shots to cut Old Dominion's lead to 55-53 with 3:04 on the clock. On the Monarch's next possession, Jada Duckett was fouled on a offensive rebound, made the first throw and missed the second, but ODU grabbed another offensive rebound, leading to a layup and three-point play by Jordan McLaughlin and a 59-53 lead with 2:30 left.

Tehya Lyons answered for Georgia State with a layup and one free throw to make it 59-56 with 2:08 left, but Jatyjia Jones scored for ODU (21-11), and the Panthers could get no closer.

Merrill, the junior post player, went 9-for-15 from the field and 3-for-3 atthe line and also grabbed six rebounds. Lyons, a senior, chipped in 10 points.

"I felt like we battled for 40 minutes," said head coach Gene Hill, whose Panthers knocked off South Alabama in Tuesday's opening round. "We had some rough patches, and we got down, but we just continued to chip away and battle, so I'm really proud of our players. Obviously we missed some assignments and would love to have a different outcome. But I'm excited about the effort of these two young ladies [Tolivert and Merrill] and just the way they led us this year."

The game was tied at 12-all after one quarter before Old Dominion took a 25-22 lead into the locker room. Merrill opened the scoring in the second half with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 25, but then the Monarchs scored 12 straight to open a 37-25 lead with four minutes left in the third quarter. The lead grew to 50-34 one minute into the fourth quarter before Georgia State began to rally.

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