Georgia State women’s basketball wins conference opener

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

With four players scoring in double figures, Georgia State produced a 80-72 win over the University of Louisiana at Monroe Tuesday evening in the GSU Sports Arena.

The Sun Belt women’s basketball opener included 12 lead changes and seven ties. Georgia State’s advantages were a 49-33 rebound lead with 22 offensive rebounds and hitting 82.8 percent of its free throws (24 of 29). ULM countered with 10 of 24 3-point baskets to keep the game within reach.

Senior six-foot-four center Brittany Logan had a fourth consecutive double-double game with 16 rebounds and 15 points. Freshman guard Makeba Ponder led with 20 points and four 3-point baskets. Senior guard Kayla Nolan produced a double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 points. Senior guard Ashley Watson added 11 points with 9 of 10 free throws.

Leading 39-36 at halftime, host GSU (6-4, 1-0) built a double-digit lead of 53-43 at 15:18 and were up by 12 points at 58-46 with 14:17 as it looked like the Panthers might pull away. But, ULM (4-6, 0-1) went on a 10-0 run with a pair of treys and it was back to 58-56 with 8:30.

GSU came back to make it 65-56 at 6:54 and were cruising at 67-60 with just 4:23. Once again, ULM surged back as Logan fouled out at2:04 and it was a 71-70 game at 1:28 after ULM’s 10 3-pointer. Watson’s two free throws at 1:01 made it 73-70 and a ULM turnover led to two more free throws by Alisha Andrews at 47.6 to up it to 75-70 as the Panthers headed for the win.