ATLANTA – VCU shot a school-record 45 free throws to come from behind and defeat Georgia State, 69-57, Wednesday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
Georgia State (11-18, 6-12) actually controlled and led most of the game before the foul trouble ended up costing the Panthers. GSU got the lead in the first half at 3:24 and kept it until a tie at 47 with nine minutes left in the game. GSU regained the lead, 50-49, and didn't lose it until VCU scored with 3:11 left to move ahead, 57-55.
The Panthers were substituting regularly as the 33 fouls called kept most of the starters in danger. Three players fouled out, including both seniors in their final game, and three players had four fouls. GSU, meanwhile, shot just 14 free throws and made nine. VCU was called for only 16 fouls.
VCU (18-10, 13-5) got a CAA-record 23rd double-double effort from Courtney Hurt with 32 points, despite shooting just 7-of-24, and 10 rebounds. Hurt, from nearby Conyers, hit 15-of-19 free throws. She leads the NCAA in rebounding and is fourth in the nation in scoring.
GSU got 13 points and five assists from senior guard Traci Haltiwanger and 10 rebounds and seven points from Chan Harris. GSU held a 41-39 rebound advantage and shot 44% from the field tonight.
Georgia State held VCU to 26.2 percent from the field and just 22.9 in the first half when GSU took a 28-26 lead into the locker room. The Panthers built the lead to seven points in the first five minutes of the second half and led by eight at 45-37 with 12:22 to play and at 47-40 with 11:23 when VCU began a run.
The Rams tied the game at 47 with nine minutes left, but GSU rallied to lead by four at 53-49 with 6:00 to play. GSU held its last lead at 55-53 with 4:25 left before Hurt tied the game at 55 with 4:10 left. The Rams outscored the depleted Panthers 14-2 over the final four minutes.
In the second half alone, VCU shot 26-of-35 free throws and made only seven field goals. GSU was called for almost a foul a minute during the game, having their first eight before the first eight minutes of the game was played. And, the fouls were just on the defensive end as GSU had eight offensive fouls.
“Well, there certainly was an imbalance in the free throw stats, but we have to move on,” veteran coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “I am proud of how hard we played tonight, but we were certainly out of our rhythm with all the fouls. Usually when you hold a team to 26 percent, you are talking about a win. We did win the rebound battle, but gave up too many offensive rebounds. We have to take care of the ball a lot better than we did tonight, so we'll work on correcting that before the tournament next week.”
Cody Paulk blocked four shots tonight and Chan Harris another to up their total for the season to 102 as they become the first duo in school history to top 100. Paulk now has 53 blocks and Harris has 49. And, Paulk blocked her four in just 20 minutes as she watched often from the bench with foul trouble.
GSU, the No. 9 seed will play in the CAA Championships in metro Washington, D.C.. on Thursday, March 10, at noon against George Mason, the No. 8 seed. GSU and Mason split the season series, each winning on its home court.
