The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Georgia State defeated Appalachian State 76-71 in a Sun Belt Conference women’s basketball game in the Holmes Center.

The visiting Panthers (8-8, 3-4) relied on the biggest player on the court, 6-foot-4 Brittany Logan with 17 points and nine rebounds, along with the smallest player on the court, 4-foot-11 Alisha Andrews with 16 points and five assists. Kayla Nolan added 13 points, Morgan Jackson contributed 11 points and Kennesha Nichols chipped in with nine rebounds and eight points.

Georgia State shot 45.5 percent for the game (25 of 55), including six 3-point baskets in the first half.

Appalachian State (8-7, 3-3) had won three of its last four and was 6-1 at home. Senior preseason first-team All-Sun Belt forward Maryah Sydnor led the Mountaineers with 21 points, while Joe Jones added 11 points.

“This was a total team win and I’m proud of the response after a couple tough losses,” head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “I can go down the roster and talk about how each player gave us something to this win. I am pleased with the effort and focus today. We were patient, we weren’t as careless with the ball and we made the plays down the stretch to win. We needed to get this win to get some momentum back for this season.”

Georgia State started strong, building a quick 22-10 lead at 12:12 by making 9 of its first 14 shots. ASU forged a 28-28 tie at five minutes, but GSU went into halftime with a 38-36 lead.

In the second half, host ASU made a brief surge to take a 47-43 lead at 13:53 and was hanging on to a 48-47 lead at 11:14 when GSU made a 7-0 run to climb back to a 54-48 lead at 9:32. Once GSU got the lead, it never lost it even though ASU closed to 71-69 with 49 seconds. Andrews, Watson and Nichols made free throws down the stretch to seal the road win.

Georgia State, No. 52 in the NCAA in free throw shooting, made 20 of 26 today (76.9%). GSU had a key 22-19 rebound advantage in the second half, even though ASU led 42-38 for the day. The Panthers made 11 steals today.