ATLANTA (Dec. 21) ? Georgia State kept its home record unblemished with a 55-50 non-conference win over Delaware State Sunday afternoon at the Sports Arena.

State (3-0 at home and 5-3 overall) regained the lead for the final time today on a basket by Brittany Hollins with 1:43 left and then made seven-of-eight free throws down the stretch to claim its fourth win in its last five games.

The Panthers defense has kept all three opponents in the Georgia State Sports Arena to 50 points or less this year and held visiting Delaware State to 29.8 percent from the field today, while holding a 42-38 rebounding advantage.

Freshman guard Jylisa Williams led the stat sheet with 17 points and nine rebounds. Brittany Hollins added nine points and eight rebounds, with Dana Olsen chipping in with nine more points and five rebounds. Chandra Harris added eight rebounds and seven points off the bench, while Brittany Graham added a pair of three-point baskets.

Delaware State was led by Keyhana Wakefield's 12 points and Selena Galloway's 11 points after finishing a three-game road trip with losses at Ohio State and Michigan State.

“We won and that is what counts, but we obviously did not play a pretty game today,” said Coach Lea Henry. “We finished hard and kept our composure down the stretch, making the plays we needed to make. But, in the first half in particular, we made too many bad decisions with the ball and we fouled too much on defense.”

“I am proud of freshman point guard Crystal Johnson because she played with a heavy heart and was exhausted from traveling home for her grandfather's funeral,” Coach Henry expressed. “We appreciate her effort and realize how difficult these past few days have been.”

Today's game included 13 ties, with the last at 6:05 in the game at 41 apiece.

Georgia State started the game with a 4-0 lead before the first tie at 6 points with five minutes gone. Visiting Delaware State's last lead of the first half was 17-15 at 6:23 as host State went on a 9-2 run. The Panthers led 24-21 at halftime.

In the second half, the teams traded ties and leads for the first 15 minutes with no team having more than a three-point lead. With Georgia State up 43-42 at the five-minute mark, Delaware State got a trey from Galloway and a pair of free throws by Candice Stewart for its largest lead of the game at 47-43 with 3:05 left. Georgia State then scored 10 straight points to take a 53-47 lead with just 15 seconds left.

The Panthers winning margin came from the free throw line, where State nailed 20-of-27 on the day (74.1%), including 14-of-18 (77.8%) in the second half.

“Today's game was important to give us momentum and a good attitude to take home for the Christmas break and we can come back for next Monday's tournament with a positive attitude,” Henry concluded.

After a few days off for Christmas, Georgia State will play host to its 15th annual Georgia State Invitational on Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 29 and 30. Joining the Panthers will be the Atlantic 10's Rhode Island, the SWAC's Mississippi Valley State and the Southland's Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.