New Rochelle, N.Y. (Dec. 18) - Georgia State won its sixth straight game with a 64-56 victory over Iona College on Friday night at the Mulcahy Center.
The Panthers, now 7-1, are off to the fastest start in school history, topping the 6-1 start of the 1980-81 squad.
State improves to 4-0 on the road this year as well. The last time Georgia State won six straight games was threeyears ago in games 8 through 13 of the 2006-07 season.
Georgia State got 25 points and six rebounds from senior forward Danyiell McKeller, who entered the game ranked in the top 25 in the nation with her 20.9 average. Senior forward Shay Rawls added 13 points and six rebounds, while sophomore guard Jylisa Williams also added 10 points and six rebounds.
GSU's defense, ranked in the top 25 in the nation in steals, added 12 more steals tonight and forced 23 turnovers, while holding Iona to 34 percent from the field.
Iona (3-6) was led by 14 points and 13 rebounds from center Anna McLean, with forward Kristina Ford adding 12 points and forward Anda Ivkovic contributing 12 rebounds and seven points. Iona had losses to Arizona, Notre Dame, Arkansas and Fordham in its early start. They play #1 Connecticut next.
Georgia State was cruising along with a 60-44 lead with just 5 minutes to play when Iona began a comeback that cut the lead to 60-54 with a minute to play as visiting State missed six shots and two free throws in that span.
McKeller hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the win.
"We played in a tough environment tonight, but did what we needed to do to win," Coach Lea Henry said. "This team expects to win and they have the will to go out and do it. When things don't go as expected, you have to focus and play through adversity."
"McKeller had a huge run in the first half and turned the game around for us. Jylisa Williams is active on the defensive end and is a playmaker on both ends of the court. The whole team works hard and they deserve to be 7-1."
Georgia State started the game with a 6-4 lead when the host Gaels went on a 10-0 run to take a 14-6 lead and held a 17-8 lead with seven minutes played. But, the Panthers and McKeller went to work and had the 11-0 run that got the lead back at 19-17 at 8:53. After a tie at 23 with 6:15, a McKeller basket gave State the lead it would never relinquish.
The Panthers led 33-25 at halftime after shooting 51.7% in the first half.
In the second half, State grew a 36-31 lead into 51-37 at 10:40 with a 15-6 run sparked by Shay Rawls and Brittany Graham. The visitors from GSU had 16-point leads three times, with the last being at 60-44 with 5:18 on the clock after a steal and lay-up by Williams.
The Panthers return home to face top-25 ranked Georgia Tech Tuesday afternoon in the 33rd annual game, this year at the GSU Sports Arena with a noon tipoff.
