RICHMOND, VA (Jan. 31) - The two top defenses of the Colonial Athletic Association battled today and host VCU muscled its way to a 53-39 win over Georgia State.
VCU (15-6, 8-1) held Georgia State to 32.6% on 14-of-43 field goals, but Georgia State (12-8, 3-6) countered with 17 steals and 27 forced turnovers against VCU.
After three ties in the first half, host VCU edged out to a 22-17 halftime lead.
In the second half, GSU's Brittany Graham hit a three-point shot to close to 25-22 at 18:28. But, host VCU went on a 15-2 run over the next seven minutes to forge a 38-24 lead at 12:47 and the Panthers could never recover.
Georgia State's Danyiell McKeller, who averages 19.5 a game, shot jut 3-of-13 for seven points this afternoon to score just seven points. The leading scorer was Shay Rawls with 10 points to go with her eight rebounds.
VCU's Kita Waller followed her 35-point game of Thursday with a 28-point game today, hitting 8-of-12 field goals, including 4-of-7 three-point baskets, as well as 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Courtney Lane added 11 points and seven rebounds. Waller hit 17 of her 28 points in the second half. VCU got a big boost by making 15-of-18 free throws (83.3%) today.
"First, VCU is a good, strong, physical first-place team," Coach Lea Henry, who picked up her 300th win Thursday said. "But, we had looks today and just didn't make enough shots. VCU makes it difficult for you, but we didn't execute as well as we could have. There is a lot of contact, a lot of pushing and shoving away from the ball and you have to respond. This was a tough trip with the five-hour bus ride in the snow yesterday, but that's part of the five-day trips we take in the CAA. Now, we get to come home for a pair of games and need to bounce back with more wins."
Georgia State returns to Atlanta for a pair of CAA home games this week, starting with the special Thursday night Pink Zone celebration game against Northeastern at 6 p.m.
NOTEBOOK: The 39 points scored was a season-low for the Panthers as was McKeller's personal seven-point season low...The Panthers are 4-5 this year on the road, but just 1-4 on the road in the CAA (VCU, ODU, Madison and Hofstra)...The Panthers held VCU's D'Andra Moss, averaging 18 points a game, to just six points this afternoon.
