ATLANTA - The Panthers got "super" efforts from several players to post a 63-60 Super Bowl Sunday afternoon win over CAA rival, William & Mary.
Point guard Crystal Johnson had a personally "super" day with a triple-double of 12 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and four steals, while Danyiell McKeller added 18 points, nine rebounds and 6-foot-3 freshman Cody Paulk came off the bench to provide six "super" blocked shots. Angelique Burtts contributed 12 points.
Georgia State (13-9, 4-7) and William & Mary (10-12, 3-8) swapped the lead 12 times to go with four ties in a full 40-minute battle. The Tribe was led by Janine Aldridge's 23 points on 7-of-14 treys, while Tiffany Benson added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
William and Mary had re-gained the lead at 60-59 with 3:21 on a pair of free throws by Jaclyn McKenna. But, Georgia State senior guard Brittany Graham had the answer for Georgia State with a three from deep in the corner to give the host Panthers a 62-60 advantage with 3:21 to play in a shot that proved to be the difference.
Crystal Johnson made a final free throw on the front end of a one-and-one with 31.5 seconds left. William and Mary, who had gotten 7 three-point baskets from Janine Aldridge, tried to get her one last look with screens and picks, but Aldridge ended up traveling with 5.5 seconds left before she could get off a shot.
With 4.5 seconds left, Johnson missed the front end of this one-and-one and the visiting Tribe got the rebound and got off desperation 25-footer from Taysha Pye that banged off the backboard at the buzzer.
“Crystal Johnson exemplified what we wanted to show today, toughness and focus,” said Coach Lea Henry. “We needed to be aggressive and make things happen. It was good to see we were resilient enough to bounce back from the tough loss on Thursday and get this win today.”
“We got good efforts from a lot of different people today. We can always count on McKeller, but Cody Paulk gave us solid play inside in her best game of the season. Graham made that big shot and Angelique Burtts and Shay Rawls contributed 19 more points combined, too. I'm proud of the effort and of the team giving a full 40 minutes of hard work.”
This was Georgia State's first-ever win over William and Mary in regular season, making the series now at 7-2, including the win in a conference tournament.
As the teams traded early scoring runs to start the game, William and Mary had gained the lead on Alridge's second trey at 19-17 with 12:20 in the first half. But, Crystal Johnson three-pointer gave GSU a lead they wouldn't lose until the second half. The host Panthers had built seven-point leads four different times in the first half, the last at 37-30 with 1:52 left in the first half. But, another Aldridge trey and a pair of baskets in the final minute of the half by Pye and Benson cut the lead to 39-37 in favor of GSU at halftime.
In the second half, Aldrdige's fifth trey gave William and Mary its largest lead of the game at 45-41 with 15:45 to play. But, the host Panthers had an answer with a 10-1 run to re-take the lead at 51-46 with 10:42 to go.
State was up by seven points at 55-48 with 8:46 to go when the Tribe made its strong run, led by center Tiffany Benson and Aldrige. The sixth and seventh treys of the game by Aldrige put the Tribe back up 58-57 with 4:44 to go.
State's league-leading defense had 10 steals, forced 17 Tribe turnovers and held W & M to 23 percent shooting in the second half. But, William and Mary hurt itself by making just 6-of-16 free throws.
Crystal Johnson's 11 assists tied her personal-best for the third time as she continues leading the CAA and ranking in the top 25 in the nation, while her 10 rebounds were a personal high.
NOTEBOOK: Johnson's triple-double is just the fourth in school history, but the second this year (Angelique Burtts).In the previous 35 years, it had been just twice...The 13th win surpasses last year's total in the 12-18 campaign, as both seasons have had the misfortune of losing two starters...The Panthers have winning records at home (8-5) and on the road (5-4)....GSU's defense, ranked No. 32 in the NCAA in steals, had 10 or more steals for the 14th time in the 22 games this season...In holding the Tribe to 60 points, it marked the 14th opponent to be held to 60 or less by the CAA's top defense (55.5 per game)....The Panthers are 11-3 in those games of holding the opponent to 60 or fewer...GSU shot 46% today, improving their record to 7-1 this season when shooting 45% or better...The 51.5% first half was the 15th half this season of 50% or better...Cody Paul now has 15 blocks on the season, despite playing just 87 minutes this season, meaning she has a blocked shot every 6 minutes she is on the court...Johnson's 11 assists equal her 11 this year vs. UNC Wilmington and the 11 she had last year vs. Northeastern. She also had 10 this year in the win over Troy...Danyiell McKeller moved into the Top 10 in school history in scoring with her 1,244 points, edging past Brittany Holllins. McKeller has 15 steals in the past three games to up her team best total to 57...The Panthers had three fewer turnovers than the Tribe today, making the team 11-4 in games when they have fewer turnovers than the opponent.
