ATLANTA, Ga. – Four Warhawks garnered double-digits as the ULM women's basketball team fell 80-72 to Georgia State on Tuesday afternoon in William R. Johnson Coliseum.
Sharnice Brooks racked up a team-high 19 points, Chelsea Tieuel contributed 13 points, Jade Wharton scored 11 points and Olivia Countiss chipped in 10 on the afternoon.
The ULM (4-6, 0-1 Sun Belt) defense held Georgia State (6-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) to just 39.7 percent shooting from the field, which is the sixth time this season the Warhawks have held their opponent to under 40 percent in this category.
In addition to shooting 52.9 percent (9-17) from the field, Brooks grabbed five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.
Makeba Ponder led the Panthers with 20 points.
Georgia State took the lead first as Makeba Ponder hit a three-pointer, but Aundrea Davis was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three from the charity stripe to tie the score with 16:07 left in the first half.
ULM then took its first lead (7-5) as Wharton hit two free-throws of her own.
The two teams changed leads four more times before back-to-back three-point shots from Countiss gave the Warhawks their largest advantage of the half as they led 19-13 with 11:09 remaining before the break.
Georgia State then took used a 14-2 run to take their own four-point lead (27-23) before Brooks hit a jumper, followed by a Tieuel three-pointer to help the Warhawks regain a 28-27 advantage with 6:19 left until halftime.
The Panthers took another lead, but Alayshia Hunter hit back-to-back layups to help the Warhawks go up 34-33 with 3:11 remaining in the first half.
The two teams changed leads again, but the Warhawks trailed 39-36 as they headed into the locker room.
Wharton opened the second half with a jumper to cut the lead to one. The Panthers then used a 5-0 run to stretch the advantage out again before Wharton landed one from beyond the arc for a 45-41 Georgia State lead with 17:27 left in the game.
Georgia State used another run to give themselves a 12-point lead, but a Tieuel hit a three-pointer and then a field goal to spark a 10-0 run for the visiting team, cutting the score to 58-56 in favor of the Panthers.
The Warhawk defense prevented the home team from taking a double-digit lead again, and Tieuel hit a three-pointer to pull ULM within one (71-70) with 1:33 remaining, but the Panthers hit a series of free throws at the end to pull away.
ULM will take the court again on Monday as they face Arkansas State at 5:15 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum for their conference home-opener.
