STATESBORO, GA – UNC Greensboro picked up its second sweep in as many days, defeating Georgia Southern 68-60 in women’s basketball action Monday night.
UNCG (16-8, 9-4) had three players in doubles-figures, led by KaLeah Latham with a team-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. She shot 8-of-12 from the floor and recorded her second consecutive double-double.
“This was a physical game, as expected,” said head coach Lynne Agee. “I was very proud of our effort on the defensive end of the court. We did a very good job of asserting ourselves down there, which turned into offense on the other end. We did a good job tonight.”
GSU (9-15, 4-9) was led by Carolyn Whitney who had 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Whitney also had seven rebounds.
The Spartans shot 42.1 percent from the floor for the night. UNCG also pulled down 40 rebounds and had 12 assists.
Meghan Chamberlain got things started in the second half, extending the Spartans' lead to 30-25 in the first thirty seconds by converting a conventional three-point play. UNCG played stellar defense forcing two GSU turnovers in the early going to extend the lead to 35-29 with 17:17 remaining.
Georgia Southern was able to force several UNCG miscues and cut the Spartan lead to 41-33 with 12 minutes remaining, but it was all UNCG after that. The Spartans went on an 11-6 run over the next three minutes to jump out to a 52-39 lead with 8:38 remaining. Georgia Southern got as close as eight points but UNCG held on en route to its second consecutive win and a sweep of the Eagles.
Junior forward Jasmine Dixon provided an offensive lift for UNCG off of the bench, coming in to score a season-high 11 points, including 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
The Spartans jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the games first three minutes but two quick unanswered baskets by Georgia Southern tied the game at 5-5 at the 16:47 mark. Irene Otamiri put UNCG up again with a short jumper but a bucket in the paint by GSU’s Shawnda Atwood again tied the game, 9-9, with just under 14 minutes remaining before intermission.
The teams traded buckets on the next few possessions but UNCG was able to jump out to a five-point lead behind buckets from Latham, Kristen Boone and Jasmine Dixon. Georgia Southern was able to cut into the lead behind a three-pointer from Jessica Geiger at the 8:27 mark of the half.
GSU was able to take its first lead of the evening with 7:01 left in the half, but UNCG responded with a quick 4-0 spurt, sparked by Latham to take a 24-21 lead with 3:55 left in the half. The teams traded buckets in the final minutes of the half and UNCG took a 27-24 advantage into the break.
Latham led the Spartans with a game-high 12 points at the break, well above her 9.2 first half average this season. UNCG also pulled down 20 rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
The Spartans return to Fleming Gymnasium on Saturday when they take on Appalachian State. Tip is set for 2 pm. UNCG will retire former Spartan great Melinda Goodson’s jersey in a pregame ceremony.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 68, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 60
UNC GREENSBORO 16-8 (9-4 SoCon)
Latham, Kaleah 8-12 3-4 19; Boone, Kristen 5-11 5-5 16; Dixon,
Jasmine 3-3 5-6 11; Otamiri, Irene 3-7 1-1 7; Chamberlain, Meghan
2-4 2-3 6; Byrd, Jasmine 1-11 3-4 5; Grimsley, Gini 1-3 0-0 2;
Brooks, Kemena 1-1 0-0 2; Frazier, Brittany 0-5 0-0 0; Ling, Ashley
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 19-23 68.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 9-15 (4-9 SoCon)
WHITNEY, Carolyn 5-13 3-3 15; RIVENS, Ashley 4-9 0-0 11; BROWN,
Tiffany 4-12 1-2 9; ATWOOD, Shawnda 4-5 0-0 8; MELSON, Ashley 3-9
0-0 8; GEIGER, Jessica 1-2 3-4 6; JESSIE, Chequilla 0-6 3-4 3;
HENRY, Concella 0-0 0-0 0; OGBURN, J'Lisia 0-1 0-0 0; WATERMAN,
Christa 0-1 0-0 0; YOUNGBLOOD, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 10-13
60.
Halftime: UNCG 27-24. 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 1-8 (Boone, Kristen 1-2; Otamiri, Irene 0-3; Byrd, Jasmine 0-3), Georgia Southern 8-28 (RIVENS, Ashley 3-7; WHITNEY, Carolyn 2-7; MELSON, Ashley 2-7; GEIGER, Jessica 1-2; ATWOOD, Shawnda 0-1; BROWN, Tiffany 0-4). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Georgia Southern-None. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 40 (Latham, Kaleah 13), Georgia Southern 35 (WHITNEY, Carolyn 7). Assists—UNC Greensboro 12 (Boone, Kristen 4), Georgia Southern 11 (WHITNEY, Carolyn 4). Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 15, Georgia Southern 23. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, Georgia Southern-None.A-591
- UNCG -