ATLANTA – Georgia State relied on its defense to claim a 65-52 Sun Belt Conference win over the University of Louisiana at Monroe Thursday at the GSU Sports Arena.
The Panthers (7-7, 2-3) ended a three-game losing skid by holding ULM to 27.1 percent shooting, including just four points in the second quarter.
GSU went on a 12-2 run to end the second quarter and take a 27-18 halftime lead, then pushed that with an 8-2 run to start the third quarter and make it 35-20 for the largest lead of the game.
But, ULM wasn't going to give up and closed back to 44-38 at the end of three periods. It was a two-possession game at 50-45 with 3:56 to play when GSU extended an 11-1 run to make it 60-46 with just 1:10 left to play.
“We played with more intensity on defense, used our feet a little more than we had been, and held a team below its season average, so that is usually how you win ball games,” head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “I am not real pleased and there are still a lot of things we have to do better, but I am pleased to see the defensive effort and get back on the winning side of the scoreboard.”
GSU got 12 points (5 of 8 FG), eight assists and seven rebounds from freshman point guard Madison Newby. Sophomore guard Makeba Ponder added 11 points and seven rebounds, while freshman forward Astaja Tyghter contributed 10 more points and four boards. Erica Norwood came off the bench to add nine points, while D'Arcy Draper added six more rebounds as a reserve.
“We had 11 players compete for 10 or more minutes, so it was a team effort and a lot of people gave us a lot of different things tonight,” coach added.
ULM (6-8, 0-5) got 14 points and nine rebounds from Alayshia Hunter, but she fouled out with 4:50 left to play. The Warhawks shot just 5 of 23 outside the 3-point line (21.7%) and made just 1 of 16 shots in the second quarter when they scored just four points.
GSU ended with a 45-42 rebound edge, had 14 assists, 9 steals and shot 40.9 percent for the game.
The Panthers play host to the University of Louisiana Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday at noon in the GSU Sports Arena.
