ATLANTA (Jan. 4, 2007) ? Five players scored in double figures as Georgia State won its Colonial Athletic Association home opener in impressive fashion Thursday evening, downing visiting Northeastern 76-51 at the Georgia State Sports Arena.
Georgia State sophomore guard Brittany Hollins (Columbia, S.C.) led all scorers with 16 points. Senior guard Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen (St. Petersburg, Fla.) finished with 14 in becoming the 17th women's basketball player in school history to score 1,000 or more points in a career. She has 1,003 points in four seasons as a Panther.
"Kelcey is surrounded by talent this year," said Georgia State head coach Lea Henry. "However, she knows that she still needs to score for us and she's doing a great job. She keeps her teammates involved in the offense and understands our system. Kelcey is a very unselfish player, and getting over 1,000 career points just shows how much of a scorer and playmaking she really is."
Freshman guard Tabitha David (Mableton, Ga.) went 4-of-8 from 3-point range and collected 14 points for the Panthers. Sophomore center Marcquitta Head (Conley, Ga.) totaled 13 and a team-high 15 rebounds for her eighth career double-double. Freshman forward Danyiell McKeller (Fayetteville, N.C.) posted her third career double-double with 13 points and 11 boards -- tying her career-high.
The Panthers (9-4, 1-1 CAA) record their first league victory of the season in winning their sixth consecutive game and ninth in the past 10 contests. State also remains perfect at home with a 5-0 mark; its first five-game undefeated stretch at the Sports Arena since the 2000-01 campaign. Georgia State's nine victories this season ties its overall win total from last year when the team finished 9-20.
State led the Huskies (1-12, 0-2 CAA) the entire contest. Leading by one, 19-18, with 6:50 remaining in the first half, David hit her third 3-pointer to spark an 18-8 Panthers' run to close the period -- capped by David's fourth 3-point field goal -- that put State ahead 37-26 at halftime.
Head opened the second half with a jumper and State held Northeastern to one field goal in the first six-and-half minutes of the period, staking a 53-28 advantage with under 14 minutes left in the game. The Panthers' maintained a 20-points or more margin for the remainder of the contest, out scoring the Huskies 39-25 in the second period.
Guard Kateema McLean led Northeastern with 14 points. Forward Kim Carr and Ashlee Feldman finished with 11 and 13 points, respectively. Stefanie Hodell recorded a game- and career-high 17 rebounds.
Northeastern, the best free-throw shooting team in the CAA, made only 3-of-8 (38 percent) free throws compared to a 17-for-25 (68 percent) effort from Georgia State. The Panthers shot 40 percent from the floor and held the Huskies to 34 percent. Georgia State out rebounded Northeastern, 49-40.
Georgia State looks to keep its Sports Arena home court win streak intact Sunday at 2 p.m. as the Panthers continue CAA action against a 10-2 James Madison squad.
Box Score
Northeastern (1-12, 0-2 CAA) -- 26-25=51
Georgia State (9-4, 1-1 CAA) -- 37-39=76
