Harrisonburg, Va (March 11) - Georgia State lost a 12-point first half lead and a 7-point second half lead as #8-seed Northeastern rallied for a 46-42 win over the Panthers in the opening game of the CAA Championship.
The hustling Panthers got off 21 more shots than Northeastern, but shot just 28% for the game and just 22.6% in the second half. The Panthers scored just 15 points in the second half, making just seven of 31 shots.
Crystal Johnson led the Panthers with 15 points and 5 assists, while Danyiell McKeller finished her career with a 12-point, five-rebound, five-steal game. Senior Shay Rawls led with 10 rebounds and added eight points.
Georgia State was down five points early in the game at 11-6 when it went on a huge 19-2 run to gain control and open a 12-point lead at 25-13 with 5:12 in the first half. The Panthers took a 27-21 six-point lead into halftime.
In the second half, GSU continued to stay in control with a 35-28 margin with 13:30 left in the game. But, Northeastern continued to whittle away as GSU continued to miss everything from lay-ups to open jumpers. Eventually, Northeastern gained the lead with 6:44 left in the game on a pair of free throws by Afreyea Tolbert.
Georgia State wouldn't quit and re-gained the lead at 42-41 with 2:54 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Crystal Johnson. Northeastern got the lead back on its next possession on its third try with Kendra Walton hitting the basket to make it 43-42. Brittany Wilson drove the lane for the final basket at 1:54 and a three-point margin at 45-42.
Georgia State missed a trey, got an offensive rebound, but missed again. When State fouled Kendra Walton with 29 seconds, she missed the front end of the one-and-one and State had another chance. But, another three was wide. NU made the final free throw with 5.7 seconds left to advance to the quartefinals. Georgia State missed its final five shots of the game.
"The defense gave us a chance, but we certainly didn't shoot the ball well enough to win," Coach Lea Henry said. "Our full court trap in the first half caused 15 turnovers, but we didn't get to use it much in the second half because we simply were not scoring to do so. We got a lot of shots, but just didn't get in to go in the hole today."
Georgia State's defense made 16 steals and forced 23 turnovers, while holding NU to just 39% from the field. GSU, who led the CAA all year with its 55 points a game allowed, held Northeastern to nine below that today.
Georgia State finishes the season at 15-15.
