STATESBORO, Ga. – Monroe native Daja Chase's runner with less than a second left gave ULM a dramatic 50-49 win at Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon. The Warhawks trailed 43-36 with seven minutes left.
“I mean, my junior year of high school I had a three-pointer in Texas with five seconds to go that tied it up,” Chase said regarding her previous most memorable shot. “We just stayed positive today, pulled it together and got the win.”
Chase, the hero, also had an unsung moment just 14 seconds before, blocking an Eagle three-point attempt that could have iced the game. The Warhawks called a timeout immediately after Alayshia Hunter got the rebound. Chelsea Tieuel's long-distance try with six seconds left was tipped, and Hunter saved it from going out before Chase followed up with the play of the night, just inside the paint.
Tieuel's three-pointer in front of the ULM bench with 1:24 to go gave ULM its first lead of the second half.
“We just had to go out and play with heart and toughness and execute our plays,” Tieuel said. “I switched up my footwork, stepping with my right instead of my left, mostly because of my hurt ankle. Coach Humphries also told me to shoot a little higher.”
Head coach Jeff Dow affirmed Tieuel's toughness.
“It was a great game by Chelsea with a sprained ankle, and we didn't even know if she was going to go today,” he said. “She was out there for 36 minutes, had zero turnovers and made a clutch three-pointer on an out-of-bounds play.”
A three-pointer by Trell English-Lurry put Georgia Southern up 43-36 at the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter, its largest of the game, but Daja Chase came right back with a three-point play on a layup. ULM's next trip down was another two points from Chase that made it a 43-41 margin, and Aundrea Davis lofted a contested left-handed layup at the 4:13 mark that tied the game.
ULM (7-8, 1-5 SBC) scored 10 of the game's first 12 points and also forced a pair of shot clock violations in that span.
The Eagles posted a 12-2 run to end the first half, taking their first lead of the game in the process. Patrice Butler got the old-fashioned three-point play that gave Georgia Southern a 21-20 lead. The Eagles then made their next four free-throw attempts, including two with less than a second to play that made it a 25-20 halftime margin.
“It was a tremendous comeback win, down seven with little under seven left,” Dow said. “It certainly shows resiliency of our kids, a lot of big stops on the defensive end late in the game. “We certainly had our rough stretches offensively but we never stopped defending.”
ULM's Thursday game with Troy will be its first in Fant-Ewing Coliseum since Dec. 31. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m. and will be aired on 1680 AM.
Inside (and beyond) the Box Score
-ULM improved to 3-0 all-time against Georgia Southern, all meetings in the last two years.
-The Warhawks used just seven players all game.
-ULM had a 16-6 paint points advantage after being down 12-6 at halftime.
-Georgia Southern was 4-for-16 from behind the arc. The Eagles came into the game with 23 three-point attempts per game on the year.
-Chelsea Tieuel had most points since having a season-high 21 at Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 29)
-Daja Chase has scored double-digit points in four of her last six games.
-Chase was third in the Sun Belt with 8.5 rebounds per game and posted nine against the Eagles.
-Emery Wilson has started consecutive games. Thursday was the first of her career.
