No. 12 seed Georgia Southern women's basketball opened up a double-digit halftime lead and held on with key plays down the stretch to upend No. 9 seed ULM, 75-69, to advance at the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Championships on Wednesday in Pensacola.
The Eagles (16-17) have now won multiple games at the SBC Tourney for the first time since joining the league in 2014-15. ULM sees its season come to a close with an 11-19 mark.
The Warhawks opened up a six-point lead, 16-10, with 3:53 left in the first quarter, but the Eagles rallied to tie the game at 20-all at the end of one.
A big 12-0 run by Georgia Southern started the second quarter and, thanks to four three-pointers in the frame, the Eagles led by 13 at halftime, 45-32.
ULM battled back in the third thanks to forcing seven turnovers by the Eagles, and a 7-0 run from the Warhawks in the fourth quarter made it just a two-point game, 67-65, with 1:27 remaining.
Leah Johnson made one free throw to give ULM the basketball down three with 58 seconds left, but a huge defensive stop forced the Warhawks into foul mode, and the Eagles made seven of eight free throws in the final 37 seconds to secure the victory.
Johnson led a quartet of Eagles in double figures with 24 points. Bukky Akinsola had 12 points, including 4-of-4 from the line in the final minute, while Nicole Gwynnadded 11 pints and Nakiyah Mays-Prince chipped in 10.
Jakayla Johnson led ULM with a game-high 31 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field, but 14-of-15 from the free throw line.
Eagle of the Game
Johnson earned a second straight double-double with 15 rebounds to go with her 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor. She added a season-high six assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Stat of the Game
Indya Green had 10 rebounds for the Eagles on the day, giving her 285 rebounds on the season, which now puts her 10th on the single season rebounding chart at Georgia Southern.
Quotables
Head coach Hana Haden on the second win for the Eagles in the Sun Belt tournament
"Really proud of our team today. We just talked about this in the locker room, that this is what March is about, just finding a way. You only have to be one point better at this stage. I'm proud that we responded after a tough third quarter where we saw a lot of turnovers and put them at the free throw line a few too many times. Sometimes it's hard when we feel like we give up the momentum to be able to take it back, but I'm proud of this group for how they toughed that stretch out, made timely plays and free throws down the stretch."
Senior guard Bukky Akinsola on the play down the stretch from her and her teammates
"I knew down the stretch that it was a game of runs. We had to keep our heads in the game; we could have gotten frustrated because they were scoring, but we know that it was win or go home so we just knocked down our free throws and kept our composure at the end."
Next Up
Georgia Southern will now play No. 8 seed Georgia State in the third round of the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Tournament at 12:30 p.m. ET from the Pensacola Bay Center.
