ATLANTA -- Georgia State's home opener was much the theme of its previous Preseason WNIT games: get an early double-figure lead, but not make the needed plays at the end to earn a win against a good team. UCF (4-0) overcame a first-half 12-point deficit and a 43-38 halftime deficit to claim its 85-77 road win over Georgia State (0-4) before 734 fans.
In a game with six lead changes and four ties, the score was 69-69 with 5:12 to go. But, UCF's Briahanna Jackson scored eight more points in that span en route to her career-tying 34 points. Her 3-point basket with 2:50 took it from 73-71 to 76-71 and set the pace for a UCF win. Jackson, the 5-foot-4 sophomore from Tampa, Fla., also added 10 rebounds and three steals in her impressive evening. Forward Stephanie Taylor added 14 points, while freshman Zykira Jackson came off the bench to score 13 points with 3-of-4 3-point baskets, all from the deep left corner spot.
Georgia State roared out to a 10-6 lead after just over three minutes and saw UCF close to within two at 18-16 with 13:55 in the first half. The host Panthers went on a 10-0 run, sparked by treys from Kendra Long and Alisha Andrews, to make it 28-16 with 9:17 in the opening half. The Panthers maintained the lead the entire first half after breaking a 10-10 tied.
In the second half, GSU maintained its lead, upping it to 49-40 with 17:52 on the clock. GSU was up 51-46 with 15:25 when UCF rallied with five straight to tie the game at 51 with 14:35 left on a 3-pointer from the corner by Lewis.
Kendra Long led Georgia State with 19 points, while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Center Brittany Logan had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Morgan Jackson came off the bench to provide 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting with two 3-point baskets. Andrews led GSU with seven assists and four steals.
The GSU bench scored 27 of GSU's 77 points, while UCF got 17 from the bench with 13 from Lewis alone.
A key stat proved to be UCF's final 51-40 rebound advantage. GSU got off 77 shots to 59 for UCF, but made just 27.5 percent in the second half on 11-of-40. GSU's defense did force 19 turnovers and make nine steals.After making six 3-pointers in the first half, GSU was just 2-of-14 behind the arc in the second half to finish 8-for-29 (27.6%). UCF hit 8-of-19 treys, including 4-of-8 in the second half.
GSU played without injured starting guard Ashley Watson and ill guard Mariam Hannoun.
"We did some good things early, but we certainly didn't finish well," coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. "We had opportunities, but our shooting was poor in the second half. We have to be more consistent and do a better job rebounding, too. Our defense was sporadic and while we forced 19 turnovers and had nine steals, we didn't do a good job for all 40 minutes. We appreciate all the support we got from some other GSU teams and our fans tonight as they provided us a great atmosphere for a game."
Georgia State will be back looking for that first win, playing at Western Carolina on Saturday.
