Myca Trail takes a pull-up jumper against Alcorn on Dec. 19. 2022.
Luke Richard/ULM Athletics
59
Winner Georgia St. GSU 7-8,1-1 Sun Belt
49
ULM ULM 5-8,1-1 Sun Belt
Winner
Georgia St. GSU
7-8,1-1 Sun Belt
59
Final
49
ULM ULM
5-8,1-1 Sun Belt
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Georgia St. GSU 17 12 13 17 59
ULM ULM 14 9 12 14 49

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Cold-Shooting ULM Falls to Georgia State, 59-49

MONROE, La. – Deasia Merrill and Mikyla Tolivert combined for 27 points to lead Georgia State to a 59-49 Sun Belt Conference win over ULM on New Year's Eve in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Panthers, who shot nearly 48 percent (21-of-44) from the field, led for more than 38 minutes.
 
Georgia State (7-8, 1-0 Sun Belt) put together a 7-2 run midway through the first quarter and took a 13-6 lead on Tehya Lyons' 12-foot jumper in the lane with 3:24 on the clock. Bre Sutton's layup high off the glass following a turnover sparked a 6-0 spurt as ULM cut its deficit to 13-12 on Myca Trail's fast-break layup off a steal and assist from Katlyn Manuel with 52 seconds in the opening period. Lyons converted a layup at the first-quarter buzzer to give the Panthers a 17-14 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
 
GSU hit 7-of-12 field-goal attempts (58 percent) in the first quarter while ULM went just 6-of-19 (32 percent) from the floor.
 
Both teams went scoreless for nearly three minutes to open the second quarter. The Warhawks again pulled to within a single point at 17-16 as Sutton knocked down a pair of free throws with 7:05 on the clock. Tolivert hit a 15-foot jumper from the right baseline to fuel a 12-4 run as GSU moved out to a 29-20 lead as Jenae Dublin completed a 3-point play with 1:50 left in the first half. ULM (5-8, 1-1) trimmed its deficit to 29-23 as Diamond Brooks finished off a 3-point play with 32 seconds to play before halftime.
 
The Warhawks hit just 2-of-11 field-goal attempts (18 percent) in the second quarter while scoring just nine points.
 
Merrill opened the third quarter with a layup, Dublin buried a 3-pointer and Merrill made another layup as Georgia State extended its lead to 12 at 36-24 with 7:05 on the clock. With the margin still 12 at 40-28, Trail scored six consecutive points as ULM rallied to within 40-34 with 1:22 remaining in the period. The Panthers led 42-35 after three periods.
 
ULM cut its deficit to five at 45-40 on Trail's layup with 7:05 to go in the fourth quarter. Alex Gitchenko connected on a 3-pointer to fuel a 9-1 run and her second 3 gave GSU its largest lead at 54-41 with 1:59 left in the game. The Warhawks hit only one of their last 10 field-goal attempts in the quarter and went 6:15 between made baskets.
 
"Today was frustrating," ULM head coach Brooks Donald Williams said. "You saw what we are capable of doing Thursday against a more athletic and a little tougher Arkansas State team. But, hats off to Georgia State because they did some really good things.
 
"We just didn't quite play with the same execution and effort that we did Thursday night. We got some good looks, but we faded away from contact, didn't play off two feet and didn't finish. We just really couldn't get things going offensively, and Georgia State did a good job of taking away our transition game. They did a really good job of getting back and having multiple people in positions to guard, and they took away some points. We just couldn't score in the second and the fourth quarters. The scoring lines in those quarters were really tough. We made only one out of our last 10 field-goal attempts.
 
"Our timing was a little bit off too this afternoon," Williams continued. "The other night, we were really clicking … the timing of our passes, the timing of sealing the defender, the timing of our screens and cuts. We simply didn't execute at the same level today. We had some opportunities to score in the paint with Diamond and Katlyn, but we just didn't hit them at the right time when the defense was sealed. At times, we tried to make the more difficult play, then the easier one. I hate to lose, but we've got to learn from it. It was a quick turnaround (from Thursday night to Saturday morning) in a very good league. We can continue to learn, especially our young players, that day in and out, games are tough in this league."
 
Merrill, who connected on 5-of-11 shots from the floor, led the Panthers with 14 points and eight rebounds. Tolivert contributed 13 points, hitting 5-of-9 attempts from the field, and Dublin added 10.
 
"Give Georgia State credit for the way it played on the road," Williams said. "We knew (Deasia) Merrill was going to be a tough challenge for us, not matter who was defending her in the post. We did a good job on her in the first half, but right out of the gate in the third quarter, we let her get hot. She became comfortable operating in the paint. They make you play physical, and if you shy away from it, then it's certainly to their advantage. The girls saw that on film, so they were prepared for it, but experiencing it live is a different story.
 
"We simply played with a little bit of a different edge Thursday, and that's what we have to consistently do," Williams said. "We made a big statement with Thursday night's win (81-66) against Arkansas State, but we need to learn how to consistently play and execute at that level. That's the next big step for our program to take."
 
For the game, ULM shot just 26 percent (14-of-54) from the field, including just 1-of-8 from behind the 3-point arc. The Warhawks forced GSU into 22 turnovers but managed to score only 12 points off those miscues. The Panthers outrebounded ULM, 37-30.
 
Trail came off the Warhawk bench to score a team-high 14 points, connecting on 3-of-7 field-goal and 8-of-10 free-throw attempts. She added four rebounds, two assists and three steals in 29 minutes.
 
"It's fun to watch Myca Trail's development," Williams said. "She gets better and better every day. I'm excited to see how she continues to grow. As a true freshman, Myca has come in and contributed. She can impact a game in multiple ways."
 
Manuel, who posted 11 points, was the only other ULM player to score in double figures.
 
After opening its Sun Belt Conference schedule with a home series, ULM will play four-straight league road games, beginning at Old Dominion (8-7, 0-2) on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by a trip to Coastal Carolina (6-7, 1-1) on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m. ET.
 
 
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