UPPER MARLBORO, MD (March 10) - Georgia State earned a 68-64 win over George Mason in the opening round game of the CAA Championship at The Show Place Arena Thursday afternoon.
GSU seniors Traci Haltiwanger and Angelique Burtts led the way. Haltiwanger scored 10 of GSU's first 13 points of the game and ended with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Burtts then finished the game strong and made two key free throws with seven seconds left in producing 15 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Sophomore Tiffany Anderson added 10 points and five rebounds. Cody Paulk contributed 6 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Georgia State (12-18) has won five of its last nine games and will move on to face No. 1 seed James Madison (23-7) Friday at 12 p.m.
No. 9-seed GSU jumped out quickly today to a 13-5 lead after four and a half minutes before Mason got back within one point at 20-19 with 10 minutes left in the half. GSU picked up the tempo and went on a strong 11-0 run to make it 31-19 at 7:37. After a three-point basket just ahead of the first-half buzzer from CAA All-Freshman guard Kendra Long, GSU took a 38-26 lead into halftime.
GSU was cruising along with a double-figure lead through the first eight minutes of the second half. Mason crawled back to 49-44 at the 10-minute mark, but GSU got it back to double figures at 56-46 at 8:54.
GSU was still leading 64-54 with only 3:19 left, but Mason was not going to go out quietly. The Patriots' Taleia Moton led a surge that brought her team back to 64-62 with 41.9 seconds left.
Mason quickly fouled to send Jerlisa Taylor to the free throw line and she made both ends of the one-and-one situation to make it 66-62. Burtts missed a pair of free throws with 14.7 seconds, and Mason's Brittany Eley scored to make it 66-64 with 7.9 ticks left on the scoreboard. This time, Burtts made both free throws when fouled with seven seconds left, and the Panthers had their first tournament win since 2006.
GSU had a 48-41 rebounding advantage, including 19 offensive boards. The Panthers shot 44 percent in the first half in building the 12-point lead and finished at 38 percent on the day while making 16-of-24 free throws. Mason could shoot only 25 percent in the opening half and finished at 35 percent for the game.
"I think the key today was the way we started the game," said first-year GSU coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener. "We were aggressive on both ends most of the game and came out with a lot of energy today. I give Mason credit for not quitting and fighting back. But, we came ready to play and played team basketball today."
George Mason was led by Taleia Moton's 19 points, while Brittany Poindexter and Rahneeka Saunders each added 11 points.
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