Monroe, La. - The ULM women's basketball team got off to a quick start Saturday afternoon, but Georgia State controlled the final two-and-a-half quarters to rally and beat the Warhawks 56-41 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"Bottom line, if you hold someone to 56 points, you'd like to think you'll find a way to scratch out 57 if that's what it takes," head coach Jeff Dow said. "I thought we had some kids where the effort was there, they were playing hard, they just didn't make shots."
ULM used an 8-0 run and a 14-3 stretch out the first quarter media timeout to take a 19-9 lead at the end of the quarter, led by 10 points from Arsula Clark, who had a pair of traditional 3-point plays. ULM shot 7-of-15 from the field in the quarter at 46.7 percent.
Both teams had a slow start to the second quarter. GSU's Madison Ervin hit a 3-pointer early in the frame for the Panhters, but they would go scoreless for the next five minutes. However, ULM only scored two points over the stretch, coming on a baseline jumper by Jamie Means to lead 21-12 with 4:45 left in the half.
After the media timeout, Georgia State took over. The Panthers unleashed a quick 10-0 run over the next 1:17, taking the lead on Ervin's second trey at 22-21. The lead would change hands four times late in the half before a free throw by GSU's Walnatia Wright tied the game at 26 at halftime.
Georgia State harnessed their momentum from the end of the first half and continued it to the third quarter. After a 3-pointer by Whitney Goins gave ULM the lead at 29-28, the Warhawks went scoreless over the next 6:24 as the Panthers went on an 18-0 run. Goins stopped the run with another 3-pointer late in the quarter, but ULM trailed 46-32 after three quarters.
Georgia State never let ULM closer than 14 in the final frame, as the Panthers cruised to the 56-41 win.
"Sometimes it's as simple as you got to be able to make shots," Dow said. "When you go seven points in the second quarter, six points in the third and nine in the fourth and go single digits three quarters in a row, it's obviously going to make it tough. There's ways to offset poor field goal percentage. We only come away with eight offensive rebounds. If we potentially double that number or close to it, we'll give ourselves some opportunities to get some second chance points. You got to find a way to manufacture points."
Clark led ULM with 16 points and nine rebounds before fouling out of the game with 2:51 to play. Goins added a career-high 12 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting. No other Warhawk had more than four points. Allison Johnson scored 15 points to lead Georgia State on 6-of-8 shooting, while Ervin had 12 points and Wright just missed a double double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Jada Lewis, the third leading scorer in the Sun Belt Conference at 16.8 points per game, was limited to two points and 0-of-12 shooting.
ULM shot 28.8 percent (15-of-52) from the field, their lowest field goal percentage of the season. The Warhawks shot 28.0 percent from 3-point range (7-of-25) and 4-of-7 at the line. Georgia State shot 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from the floor, while adding 31.6 percent from 3 (6-of-19) and 63.6 percent at the free throw line (14-of-22). GSU out-rebounded the Warhawks 34-27.
The Warhawks head on the road for their next three games, starting Saturday at Lafayette against the Ragin' Cajuns with tip-off at 2 p.m. Links to live video and radio feeds as well as live stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
