MONROE, La. – Georgia Southern took the lead on the strength of a 9-0 run late in the third quarter, and held off ULM's fourth quarter challenge before pulling away down the stretch, picking up a 72-66 win over the Warhawk women's basketball team on Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
"I thought our effort was really good," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "We just couldn't finish and put the ball in the hole when we needed to. We let them get hot and couldn't convert on the other end."
Georgia Southern (8-15 overall, 5-7 Sun Belt) got off to a quick start, building a 14-6 lead with 3:52 left in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Jaiden Hamilton. ULM (3-20, 1-11) responded by picking up the defensive intensity, forcing turnovers on three of the next four possessions. Diamond Brooks scored inside, while Linda van Schaik knocked down a 3-pointer and Maddi Gatte scored six straight points as ULM surged in front, 17-16. Georgia Southern's Mya Burns hit back-to-back treys before van Schaik hit a runner in the lane to cut the Eagle lead to three after a quarter, 22-19.
The Eagles rebuilt the lead to five in the second quarter at 27-22, but ULM then went on a 7-1 spurt, taking a brief 29-28 lead on Amber Thompson's 3-pointer. Georgia Southern regained the small lead, but two free throws from Gatte tied the game 35. The Warhawks scored in the final seconds of the half to take the lead at the break, as Thompson broke Georgia Southern's full-court press with a pass up the floor to Brooks, who quickly dumped a touch pass across the lane to Jamie Means for the go-ahead layup. ULM led 37-35 at the break.
After the two sides exchanged the lead seven times in the first half, the third quarter started out the same way. The lead changed hands five more times in the quarter, with ULM going on a 7-0 run thanks to buckets from Brooks, Thompson and a 3-pointer from Self to lead 48-43. ULM traded buckets to lead 52-48 before going scoreless over the final 4:27 of the quarter. Georgia Southern scored the final nine points of the frame, regaining a 57-52 lead heading to the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Georgia Southern led by as much as seven before ULM fought back. Gara Beth Self's runner in the lane brought the Warhawks within a point at 62-61 with 5:21 to go. However, despite having five possessions with a chance to take the lead, the Warhawks couldn't cash in. Both teams went scoreless for nearly three minutes before Georgia Southern hit back-to-back buckets to push the lead to five at 66-61 with 1:49 left. ULM would get no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Brooks scored a career-high 17 points while tracking down seven rebounds in the loss for ULM.
"I thought Diamond played well," Williams said. "It might be one of her best outings of the season. I thought she was extremely physical. I thought on both ends she played some really good basketball. If she'll continue to work on offense, creating angles for herself and do the footwork, she's going to have some great games ahead of her."
Self and van Schaik added 12 points each. For van Schiak, she matched a career-high, previously set at Nicholls State on Dec. 10. Kierra Crockett pulled down 10 rebounds for her sixth double-figure rebounding effort of the season.
ULM picked up some of its best bench support of the season. Along with van Schaik's 12 points, Gatte added eight points and Means had six.
"We had a great spark from the bench, Maddi, Jamie and Linda," Williams said. "All three gave us some huge momentum swings. I thought, on both ends of the floor, they contributed greatly."
Hamilton led Georgia Southern with 17 points, while Mya Burns added 14 points and Hailey Dias-Allen tallied 10 points. Alexis Brown just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
ULM continues its four-game home stand at noon on Saturday, hosting Georgia State. For tickets, call 318-342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
