ATLANTA – Mahogany Matthews scored 16 points and Mikyla Tolivert scored 14 to lead a late rally before Georgia State fell 73-59 to Southern Miss in its Sun Belt Conference opener at the GSU Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon.

Matthews scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half and shot 5-of-8 from the field with six rebounds. Tolivert also heated up in the second half with nine of her 14 points and shot 5-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-7 from three-point range.

Georgia State (6-6, 0-1 Sun Belt) trailed by 31 in the third quarter when the Panthers mounted their comeback, outscoring Southern Miss 39-22 for the rest of the game and pulled within 10 with 59 seconds left, but could get no closer.

GSU will travel to San Marcos to face Texas State at 8 p.m. on January 2.  The Panthers will return to the GSU Convocation Center on January 8 to face in-state rival Georgia Southern at 5:30 p.m.

The Panthers couldn't overcome a hot-shooting Lady Eagles offense that shot 10-of-18 from three.  Trinity Rowe led Southern Miss with 25 points and shot 7-of-12 from long-distance, including five straight three-pointers in the first quarter.  The Lady Eagles outscored GSU 26-9 in the first quarter to pull ahead for good.