ATLANTA (March 4) ? Perhaps it was the fatigue of a 15-hour bus trip from Monday morning. Perhaps it was the loss of both starting forwards. Perhaps it was the cold shooting by the guards. Or, perhaps it was VCU is a solid 25-5 team. Most likely, it was a combination of all of the above that led to a 56-39 Virginia Commonwealth win Wednesday night in the Colonial Athletic Association game at the Sports Arena.
Georgia State (12-17, 4-14) led early at 10-9 with 11:55 gone for its only lead of the game. Visiting VCU (25-5, 15-3) got the lead back at 16-12 with 7:54 and outscored the host Panthers 12-2 over the remainder of the half to open a 28-14 halftime lead. Then, a quick 9-4 start in the first four minutes of the second half opened up a 37-18 lead and the result was never in doubt.
In the absence of leading scorer and rebounder Danyiell McKeller and starting forward Dana Olsen already out for the year, inside players were in short supply for State. Then, sub starter Shay Rawls caught an elbow that opened a cut over the eye and she was in and out for 20 minutes as the trainers patched her up. That left the door open for VCU's six-foot-five Quanitra Hollingsworth to score 23 points and grab 12 rebounds. State shot just 21 percent in the first half and 23.6 percent for the game on 13-of-55. VCU got 7-for-12 from Hollingsworth, but the rest of the Rams squad shot just 10-of-43 themselves, for a team 30 percent from the field.
The Panthers did get a solid game from six-foot-two sophomore Chandra Harris with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Rawls battled for 12 rebounds in her 20 minutes. But, the Panther guards couldn't find the basket with a combined 6-for-34. The Panthers looked a step slow in committing 25 turnovers, almost 10 above their season average, and having just nine steals, below their NCAA top 10 average of 12 per game.
“This is the kind of game you just have to let go of and move on to the next one ,” said head coach Lea Henry. “We could see the kids were mentally and physically tired. And, the strain of the long bus ride from the snow probably was a factor in so many of our missed shots. But, we were outmatched inside tonight and didn't have the rotation and strength to compete for 40 minutes.”
The players will get a couple days off from basketball and with spring break and no classes, they will have time to just simply rest and relax,
Georgia State travels to the CAA Tournament Thursday, March 12, as the #11 seed. The Panthers will play the #6 seed, Northeastern, on the campus of James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va.
