Buoyed by Nicole Gwynn's school record-tying eight three-pointers, Georgia Southern women's basketball scored a season-high 95 points in a 95-68 win over visiting South Alabama on Saturday afternoon at the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center.
The Eagles (12-15, 4-10 SBC) notched their third win out of their last four with the victory, while South Alabama falls to 5-20 overall and 1-13 in the league with the loss.
Georgia Southern put up 23 points in each of the first two quarters to take a 46-31 lead into halftime. Gwynn knocked down six of seven three-pointers en route to 20 first half points, the first time an Eagle has scored 20 or more points in a half in more than two years.
The Eagles kept up an aggressive defense in the second half, forcing 19 turnovers overall and turning that into 29 points off of turnovers for the game.
Gwynn tied the school record with her eighth three-pointer with nine seconds left in the third quarter as Georgia Southern led, 73-51, at the end of three. She had a chance to break the record with 6:13 left in the fourth but her corner three rimmed in an out.
Four Eagles reached double figures on the day, led by Gwynn's season-high 28 points. Indya Green hit 10-of-16 shots from the floor en route to 22 points, while Leah Johnson added 18 points and Shanti Simmonschipped in 10 points. Nakiyah Mays-Prince flirted with a triple-double, registering nine points, seven assists and six steals.
Eagle of the Game
Gwynn is the fifth player in school history to knock down eight threes in a game, and the first since Alexis Brown had eight against Troy on January 17, 2019. Her eight threes ties an overall career high and she has now hit 18-of-32 threes (56.3%) over her last three games.
Stat of the Game
The Eagles shot 59.7 percent from the field as a team (37-of-62), including 52.6 percent from three-point range (10-of-19). It's the highest field goal percentage for the Eagles in a conference win since Georgia Southern shot 62.7 percent in a win over Western Carolina on January 19, 1998.
Quotables
Head coach Hana Haden on the performance against the Jaguars
"I'm really, really proud of our group. We thought that whatever team played harder would get to 70 and win, but whenever you have three people in big time in double figures, it helps. I thought we competed really hard and executed really well. Going 10-for-19 from three, it used to take us four games to get 10 threes. Credit to these kids, they're the hardest workers I've been around."
On the shooting prowess of Nicole Gwynn recently and what it means to the team
"After the Akron game where she went 5-of-10 from three, she told me 'I wish I could do that every time.' That's crazy, but I said 'let's just keep taking open shots and we'll see.' She's been able to do that. And it's critical for this group because now we're playing better inside, and it's harder to double us because of the way we're shooting it. Hopefully we can keep it going."
Senior Nicole Gwynn on what the change has been to her three-point shooting heading into conference play
"Honestly, I've just been controlling my mind and not harping on the bad games that I've had. Deciding to put it aside and move forward, and also watching a lot of film."
Next Up
Georgia Southern travels to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday, February 19, for a 6 p.m. Sun Belt matchup against the Chanticleers from Conway, S.C.
