STATESBORO, Ga. – Three long scoring droughts to end three separate quarters doomed the ULM women's basketball team, as Georgia Southern pulled away for a 64-47 win in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.
"I thought their pressure really affected us," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "We did some really good things early on, and just weren't quite as efficient in the later part of the game."
ULM started strong. Trailing 8-5 midway through the first quarter, Whitney Goins canned her first 3-pointer of the night, and Diamond Brooks hit a jumper in the paint on the next possession to put ULM up 10-8. Georgia Southern tied the game at 13, but Amber Thompson scored the final four points of the quarter to give ULM a 17-13 lead.
The Warhawks held Georgia Southern scoreless for nearly six and a half minutes between the end of the first and start of the second quarters. However, the Warhawks tallied just eight points in that stretch, capped on a fast break layup off a steal for Gara Beth Self for a 21-13 lead with 5:51 left in the half.
"I thought we came out and really defended well," Williams said about the start of the game. "We really followed our defensive schemes and got some big stops. We played tough with the ball. I thought offensively we were somewhat efficient. We did some really good things on both ends."
However, ULM then went scoreless over the next five minutes, as Georgia Southern's offense awoke with a 10-0 run to claim a 23-21 advantage on a layup by Jaiden Hamilton. After Brooks answered at the other end to end ULM's drought, Hamilton buried a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 26-23 halftime lead.
Georgia Southern scored the first five points of the second half, including another trey from Hamilton, to take a 31-23 lead. ULM battled back, scoring six straight points to close within two at 31-29 on a jumper by Goins with 7:20 to play in the quarter. Again, ULM went into a scoring drought. The Warhawks did not make another field goal in the quarter, adding three free throws. Georgia Southern outscored the Warhawks 12-3 over the remainder of the quarter to extend their lead to 11 at 43-32.
Early in the fourth quarter, ULM briefly squashed its offensive woes. Brooks opened the quarter with a 3-point play and Goins followed with a trey to cut the deficit to five at 43-38. After an answer from Georgia Southern, Thompson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers around a basket by the Eagles to bring ULM within four at 48-44 with 7:13 to play. That's when ULM's offensive struggles resumed. After the Eagles scored seven straight points to regain an 11-point advantage, Thompson hit another trey to bring ULM within eight at 55-47 with 5:06 remaining. ULM did not score again, as Georgia Southern finished off the 64-47 victory.
Thompson tallied 18 points to lead the Warhawks, while Brooks had 12 and Goins added 10 for her first double-figure scoring game of the season. Hamilton tallied 16 points to lead the Eagles while Alexis Brown had 15 points off the bench.
The Warhawks head to Atlanta for an 11 a.m. matchup Saturday at Georgia State. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
