Women Try For Coach's 300th Win Thursday

Women's Basketball Charlie Taylor/Sports Communications

Panthers' Defense Smothers Shorter Attack

ATLANTA (Nov. 4) – Georgia State opened the preseason with a solid 66-39 win over Shorter College with its usual stellar defense and three veterans in double-figure scoring.

Georgia State, who ranked No. 10 in the nation in steals last year, showed it will be aggressive on defense again with 16 steals, 25 forced turnovers and six blocked shots in holding Shorter to 27.7 percent shooting and just 39 points.

Senior veteran forward Danyiell McKeller paced the Panthers with 17 points and five steals, while junior college all-american transfer forward Angelique Burtts provided 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals in her first action. Junior forward Chan Harris added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Shorter did not have anyone in double figures as Kelly Ellison's nine points led the way.

“We played hard, played with energy and enthusiasm and had a focus tonight,” veteran head coach Lea Henry said postgame. “We had a good court presence and awareness and I think played with confidence. We need to be more explosive offensively as our goal is to score in the 80's, so we will keep working on that.”

At the start, Georgia State grew an 11-7 lead at 13:45 into a 24-9 advantage with 8:20 after a 13-2 run. Shorter made a run in the final four minutes of the half to close a 28-15 margin to 32-23 at halftime.

To start the second half, the host Panthers built a 35-27 lead at 18:44 into a 46-29 margin at 11:35 with an 11-2 surge. The closest Shorter got was 46-32 at 10:24 when State scored six straight to open its first 20-point lead at 52-32 with 8:51.

Coach Henry was pleased with the play of Burtts, the Rockdale County High alum, as she got 35 minutes of time and had just one turnover. “Angelique is the type player who can do it all,” Henry noted. “She was poised and showed her versatility on offense and defense. Angelique plays hard and will be a major contributor for us.”

The Panthers play their final exhibition game next Tuesday (Nov. 10) against Georgia Southwestern in the last tune-up before the opener on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Kennesaw State. All games are broadcast live on WRAS-FM (88.5) and streamed online.

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