Georgia Southern women's basketball outpointed host North Florida by a 25-3 margin in the first quarter en route to an 81-65 win over the Ospreys in Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles improve to 2-0 on the year with the victory, while North Florida falls to 1-2. It's the fourth straight 2-0 start for Georgia Southern women's basketball dating back to 2021-22.
Georgia Southern held the Ospreys to just 1-for-12 shooting in the first quarter in building their 25-3 advantage. The Eagles continued to shoot well from the floor, going into halftime shooting 50% (15-of-30) as a team in taking a 42-23 lead at the break.
North Florida would be able to cut the lead to single digits as the Ospreys opened up the fourth quarter on an 11-2 run, but the Eagles would answer with an 8-2 run of their own - thanks to five points from Leah Johnson and a key three-pointer from Nakiyah Mays-Prince - to build the lead back to double digits and close out the contest.
A trio of Eagles led the way offensively on the day with 17 points - Mays-Prince, Nicole Gwynnand Indya Green. Johnson added 13 points as well. North Florida also placed four players in double figures, led by 15 points from Kayla Rougier.
Eagle of the Game
Mays-Prince hit 4-of-7 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line en route to her 17 points. She added three rebounds and a pair of steals in the contest.
Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern finished the night shooting 53.6 percent from the floor (30-of-56), the best road shooting performance for the Eagles since December 4, 2010, when the team shot 56.4 percent (31-55) in an 87-80 loss at Chattanooga.
Quotables
Head coach Hana Haden on the importance of getting off to a good start against the Ospreys on Saturday
"It was really important for us. They are a really dangerous three-point shooting team, which they showed throughout the entire game, but I thought we did a good job defending the three-point line in the first quarter."
On opening up at home on Tuesday against Bethune-Cookman
"Really excited about the first home game for this team. Getting in front of our fans, and it being one of the last games in Hanner. It's a full circle moment for me to now be able to coach in a gym that I played in before. But mostly I'm excited for this group to take the floor and our fans to get a chance to see them."
Next Up
The Eagles will take on the Wildcats at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12, in Hanner Fieldhouse in the penultimate contest for Georgia Southern women's basketball in the gym it's called home since 1974.