ARLINGTON, TEX. ? Against the odds.? Georgia State defeated UT Arlington 68-63 in the Sun Belt Conference opener Wednesday night at College Park Center.
The odds didn't look in GSU's favor when leading scorer Makeba Ponder sustained a concussion two days ago and her 13 points and 20 3-pointers would be missed. Tatianna Jackson's nine points a game were absent as she sat with her ankle in a boot. And, gutsy Erica Norwood took her ankle out of her boot earlier in the day in shoot-around and decided to give it a try.
Then, the odds grew longer when UT Arlington burst out to a 15-point lead at 24-9 just seven minutes into the game. The Panthers were still down 13 points at 37-24 with just 1:36 left in the first half. GSU did close to 39-29 at halftime.
The odds then turned dramatically in the 3rd quarter when visiting Georgia State held UT Arlington without a field goal the entire quarter in a 25-2 domination. GSU shot 9 of 13 in that quarter, UT Arlington 0 of 13 in that quarter with two free throws with 55.7 seconds.? GSU had a 22-0 run to turn that 39-29 halftime deficit to a 51-39 lead.
Just when it looked like the game might be in GSU's control when it had a 15-point lead at 56-41 with 8:47 in the game, host UT Arlington began its ferocious comeback.? After making its 10th and 11th 3-point baskets, UT Arlington had the game back to 62-61 with 34 seconds to play.
Morgan Jackson nailed two clutch free throws for GSU at 32.7 seconds, then a steal by Madison Newby got GSU the ball back and she made two tough free throws at 18.3 seconds to up it to 66-61 with 18 seconds.
A Cierra Johnson basket with 10 seconds closed it to 66-63 at the final timeout, but GSU got a long pass and lay-up by Astaja Tyghter to seal the 68-63 win.
Georgia State won for the fifth time in its last six games to improve to 6-4, 1-0, while UT Arlington slips to 5-6 overall and 0-1 in the Sun Belt.? GSU moves on to play at Texas State on Saturday.
Tonight, GSU's defense forced 18 turnovers and made 11 steals, led by four from Haley Gerrin. The Panthers averaged 19 turnovers and 10.6 steals and that stat is a key to the five wins in the last six games. GSU scored mainly by going inside the paint and scoring 38 points.
Freshman point guard Madison Newby ended as GSU's top scorer with 16 points, while senior forward Morgan Jackson scored 15 points, including two 3-pointers in Ponder's absence. Freshman forward Astaja Tyghter added 13 points and eight rebounds. Gutty Norwood added six points in her 16 minutes.
When asked what she told the team at halftime after a first half in which UT Arlington made 9 of 17 3-point baskets, Coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener explained. “I got on the team about their communications and their defensive intensity because I think sometimes a couple players were in man and the others in zone on the same play,” Baldein-Tener said. “That third quarter of defense turned out pretty special with UTA not making a basket.”
“This was a true team win with so many people doing so many little things,” coach added. “We got key rebounds in the second half to limit them to one-and-done a lot of times. And, on offense we smartly found gaps and drove the ball to the basket and get some buckets and some free throws.”
GSU shot a season-best 51 percent for the game (26 of 51) with 14 of 25 shots falling in the second half.
