Statesboro, Ga. – Lauren Fitch scored a game-high 15 points, leading four ULM players in double figures, as the Warhawks snapped a seven-game losing streak with a huge second half in an 80-62 win over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The win also marks the first road win in the Sun Belt Conference for ULM since February 25, 2016, at South Alabama, a string of 25 consecutive road losses.
The Warhawks claimed control of the game with a 19-2 third quarter run.
"Just really proud of the effort that our kids gave today," head coach Jeff Dow said. "It's been a tough couple of weeks. There's some games that we had second half leads that we gave away to some extent, so it was great to see us be able to do this, and do it on the road as well."
ULM (8-14 overall, 2-9 Sun Belt) opened the game hot, with a 3-pointer from Whitney Goins and four points from Arsula Clark to grab an early 7-2 lead, forcing a Georgia Southern (7-15, 2-9) timeout. The Eagles steadied themselves, and the two sides played a tight game for the rest of the half, with ULM's six-point edge early in the second quarter as the largest lead. Georgia Southern's Alexis Brown buried a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half to give the Eagles the 36-33 halftime advantage.
The Eagles rode that momentum early in the third quarter. ULM's Whitney Goins connected on a trey to tie the game at 36 out of the locker room, but Southern answered with a 9-1 run to take a 45-37 lead with 6:21 to play in the quarter.
"They got off to a hot start to start the third quarter, and we burned a timeout," Dow said. "I challenged them a little bit. I said 'How are you going to respond right now? We got punched in the mouth, we got bloodied a little bit, but are we going to answer?' And answer we did."
The game turned out of the timeout, as ULM went on a 19-5 run to close the quarter. Diamond Brooks provided a spark, scoring off an offensive rebound to start an 8-0 run. Goins followed with another trey and Brooks completed a 3-point play to tie the game at 45 with 3:26 left in the quarter. After two free throws by Brown put Southern back up by two, the Warhawks embarked on an 11-0 run, including a 3-pointer by Amber Thompson and a 3-point play on a fast break layup by Destini Lunsford to claim a 56-47 lead. ULM led 56-50 at the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, ULM stayed on the throttle. The two sides traded baskets early, but then the Warhawks went on a 9-0 to gain separation, starting with a layup by Fitch, followed by a trey from Thompson and closed by four straight points from Sheniqua Coatney to lead 71-56 with 3:48 to play. The Eagles drew no closer than 13 down the stretch as ULM pushed the lead to as much as 20.
"Just a true team effort, especially with Arsula, who was having a good game, with her getting in foul trouble," Dow said. "So many people across the board. Diamond Brooks giving us a huge lift with nine points, four-of-five from the field, six rebounds. Sheniqua Coatney, talk about getting a lot of mileage out of your nine minutes, she scores eight points, doesn't miss a shot, makes all three of her field goals, makes both of her free throws. Lauren Fitch really got off to a tough start in the first half, was struggling, and then ends up with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Amber Thompson going 4-of-6 from 3. Whitney Goins going 4-of-7 from 3, not to mention four assists and only one turnover as well was great to see. Destini Lunsford with a huge and-one near the end of the third quarter. Des is somebody that is going to typically be knocking down threes. For her to get that finish and draw the foul and make the free throw was really big. The energy on the bench, if they weren't in the game, everybody was engaged and really into it."
Dow also liked the play of his posts, which includes a sophomore in Brooks and two freshmen in Coatney and Means. Brooks and Coatney played key roles in the second half rally.
"Collectively, they played 19 minutes and come away with 17 points and go 7-of-8 from the field, 3-of-3 from the free throw line," Dow said. "That was huge. We can't forget about the contributions that Jamie Means had in the first half, scores seven points, knocks down a couple shots, knocks down three free throws. That was the three-headed monster, especially if you add up the minutes. Collectively, those guys played 40 minutes and scored 24 points and very efficient from the field."
Dow was also pleased with his team's offensive balance. Fitch led the way with 15 points, while Goins added a career-high 14, Thompson chipped in 12 and Clark tallied 10 in just 25 minutes due to foul trouble. Brooks added a season-high nine, Coatney had a career-high eight and Means tallied seven, all in the first quarter.
"To have four players in double figures, and then Diamond with nine, Shaq with eight, Jamie with seven, that's what we need," Dow said. "It was really encouraging to see. To step up under a little bit of duress with Arsula's foul trouble, it was a feel good win. It doesn't feel much better than that."
Dow also like the defensive effort of his club.
"Forcing 18 turnovers was really big," Dow said. "We had the decisive edge in points off turnovers, 28-7. There's a little activity on the defensive end. If you're scoring 28 points off the opponent's turnovers, you're getting some stuff done defensively."
ULM shot a season-high 51.0 percent for the game (25-of-49), while going 8-of-17 from 3 (47.1 percent) and 22-of-26 at the line (84.8 percent). Georgia Southern finished 40.7 percent from the field (22-of-54), 8-of-27 from 3 (29.6 percent) and 10-of-10 at the line. The Eagles were led by Hailey Dias-Allen and Brown with 14 points each, while Nakol Franks finished with 12 points, all in the first half.
The Warhawks return home next Saturday to host the Ragin' Cajuns, opening a three-game homestand. Saturday's game is ULM's Play4Kay game for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Free admission is offered for the game, and donations for cancer research will be accepted. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
ULM will play five of its final seven games at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. For tickets to any of the other four remaining home games, call (318) 342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com.
