MONROE, La. – ULM made all six of its free-throws in the final 45 seconds to pull away late from Georgia Southern in a 59-49 win on Thursday night in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
“We are just trying to finish strong,” Chelsea Tieuel said. “We knew Georgia Southern had it in their mind to come beat us, so we had to have that same mindset in the fourth quarter.”
ULM's fourth quarter in Statesboro on Jan. 16 saw the Warhawks overcome a 43-36 deficit with seven minutes to play and ultimately defeat the Eagles on Daja Chase's runner with under a second left.
The Eagles' Angel McGowan tied the game at 41 with a free-throw at the 7:25 mark of the fourth quarter. Over the next 90 seconds, ULM went ahead 47-41 on a Chase jumper and Tieuel three-pointer.
The margin hovered the next four minutes until Hunter hit shots in the paint at the 1:21 and 57-second points to increase ULM's lead to 53-44.
The Warhawks posted a 10-2 run late in the first quarter that gave them a 17-14 advantage, its first of the game. Alayshia Hunter made all three of her field goal attempts in that span.
Sierra Kirkland's layup at the second quarter's 5:54 mark gave the Eagles a 25-21 lead and forced ULM to call timeout. Ashley Aune gave the Warhawks the spark right after, collecting a steal and rebound on back-to-back possessions before hitting a baseline three-pointer after the board.
ULM closes its season Saturday with a noon game against Georgia State. The team will honor its seniors prior to tip-off.
Inside (and beyond) the Box Score
-Both of the Warhawks' last two opponents have had the most three-point attempts against the team this year, but have combined for just 13 makes on 55 tries (23.6 percent).
-ULM was 15-for-16 at the foul line (93.8 percent). That was its best showing since going 19-for-20 (95 percent) in a win at Georgia Southern on Feb. 7, 2015. The Warhawks were 9-for-10 in the fourth quarter.
-Georgia Southern was 4-for-25 from deep, and that 16 percent mark was ULM's best effort since Little Rock was 2-for-13 (Feb. 11).
-Alayshia Hunter made her first three shots from the field, giving her an 18-for-21 mark dating back to the end of the Feb. 25 win at South Alabama.
-Hunter's 15 points gives her 1,088 for her career. She surpassed Larrie Williams (2008-12) for No. 14 all-time at ULM.
-ULM shot 53.3 percent from the field on the heels of a 54.5 percent opener at Troy on Saturday.
-Chelsea Tieuel had a career-high eight rebounds.
-Tieuel's four-assist came after she had a personal-best six at Troy. That's the best two-game span of her career.
-Stephanie Ratliff had a pair of blocks. She entered the game fourth in the Sun Belt with 33.
-Emery Wilson tied a career-high with four offensive boards. She also had her fourth multi-block game of the year.
