Daytona Beach, Fla. - Georgia State raced to a 70-49 win over Bethune-Cookman Tuesday night at Moore Gymnasium by shooting 58.8 percent for the game.
The Panthers (2-1) were led by senior forward Angelique Burtts with her 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Junior redshirt forward Chan Harris added 19 points in just 23 minutes, to go with five rebounds and three blocked shots.
In getting their second straight win on the Florida road trip, GSU hit 30-of-51 shots, while controlling the boards, 38-26. GSU's defense had 11 steals and held Bethune-Cookman to 30% from the field.
GSU gained control of the game by scoring the final 13 points of the first half in 3:51, to erase a 10-point B-C lead and take a 36-33 halftime lead. In the second half, GSU used another 12-0 run to go from a five-point lead of 45-40 with 14:45 to a 57-40 advantage with 9:37 left.
"I am really pleased to pick up two road wins and the team responded well to the challenges," said new head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener. "Angelique had a big game to carry us tonight when Chan got into foul trouble and missed the final 15 minutes of the first half. I am not happy at all that we had 27 turnovers. We threw the ball away too many times unforced and we have got to correct that. The rebounding in our two wins has helped us overcome those turnovers."
Tonight, GSU led 8-6 and Harris had six of those eight points when her second foul at 15:04 sent her to the bench for the rest of the half. Bethune-Cookman went on a 13-0 run to open a 20-8 lead before GSU began to regroup without the six-foot-two Harris. The Panthers cut it to one-point at 22-21 with 7:40, but B-C burst back to a 33-23 lead at 3:51with an 11-2 streak. But, the rest of the half belonged to GSU and Burtts, who had 16 points in the first half to spark the 36-33 lead.
With back-to-back wins and scoring 70 points in each, the Panthers extended the win streak to 15 straight games when scoring 70 or more points. The Panthers have outscored all three opponents in the second half this season, including tonight's second-half domination of 34-16.
While it is the Thanksgiving holidays, the team will fly back to Atlanta Wednesday and practice. The team will get a one-day break on Thursday, but return to practice Friday for the home opener and Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday and Sunday at the GSU Sports Arena as Rice, Mercer and Alabama A&M come to town.
