Georgia State women’s basketball drops contest to Liberty, 73-71

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Despite three Panthers in double-digits, the Georgia State women’s basketball team came up short in the Thanksgiving Tournament championship game, bowing 73-71 to the Liberty Lady Flames. It was GSU’s first loss of the season as the Panthers sit at 3-1. Liberty improves to 4-2 after its pair of wins in Atlanta.

Tied at 68, Liberty’s Karly Buer made a layup with 1:52 to put the Lady Flames on top for good. Buer was selected as the tournament MVP after her 15-point, five-rebound, three-steal game.

Georgia State shot 38% from behind the arc, making 10 of 28 three-point attempts. Alicia Andrews scored 13 points, made six assists and had three steals to lead GSU. Kayla Nolan added 13 more points, while Ashlee Cole scored 12 points off the bench.

Liberty held a decisive 46-24 rebound advantage, but GSU used 22 forced turnovers and 10 steals to offset that. Liberty got 13 rebounds and nine points from 6-foot-4 Ashley Rininger.

Host Georgia State led early and built a 5-point lead through the first 10 minutes of the game at 20-15 with 9:30 on the first-half clock. A Buer basket for Liberty gave the Lady Flames the lead a 23-22 with 6:23. Liberty took a 35-31 lead into halftime.

Wjem Sadalia Ellis hit a trey to break a 35-tie att 17:47, Liberty got the lead it would maintain from one-point to five-points for most of the second half. Just when it looked like Liberty might finally gain an advantage at 5:01 with a 66-59 lead, Georgia State mounted a comeback with a 9-2 run to tie the game again at 68 at 2:40.

After Buer’s basket gave Liberty the lead 70-68 and 1:52, Georgia State missed several chances for the tie or lead.

The game ended fittingly for Liberty with an offensive rebound. With 2.5 second, Ellis missed two free throws with GSU poised to try for a tie or the lead in those closing seconds. But Rininger grabbed the offensive rebound and the game ended.