ATLANTA -- Georgia State went toe-to-toe with No. 22 Georgia, but the undefeated Bulldogs grabbed the lead in the final 10 minutes and held off the Panthers for a 70-58 victory in the championship game of the Georgia State Invitational Sunday at the GSU Sports Arena.
Host Georgia State led by as many as eight points in the first half (22-14), led at halftime (37-33) and held a 51-44 lead with 12 minutes to play. Georgia got the lead back for good at 53-51 with nine minutes to play and broke away from a 58-55 lead with 5:45 to go. That 12-0 run from 12:07 to 6:15 when Georgia erased the 51-44 defecit with a 12-0 run to gain the lead at 56-51 was key as host GSU went almost six minutes without a basket.
It was just a two-possession game with 4:30 to play (61-57) and 3:00 to play (63-57). Georgia State played without two starters (center Brittany Logan and guard Ashley Watson), lost center Maryam Dogo to fouls at the 8-minute mark, but battled on.
The game saw nine lead changes and five ties. UGA pulled away with GSU missed shots at the end to finish with a 45-40 rebound advantage. Georgia's scoring came inside as the taller Bulldogs netted 36 points in the paint to 16 for Georgia State. UGA also converted 25 points off turnovers with 14 steals today.
"We missed too many easy shots, we allowed too many offensive rebounds and we made poor decisions with the ball in the last 10 minutes," head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said postgame. "We came out ready to play, we fought hard, we shot well early, we were aggressive on defense early, but we have got to keep that going for a full 40 minutes to beat a top 25 team.
"We came out wanting and expecting to win today and I liked that," coach said. "We mixed up the defenses and controlled the tempo in building the halftime lead. We missed a lot of little chippies today and those came back to hurt us."
Kendra Long led GSU (2-6) with 22 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Alisha Andrews had nine points, four assists and five rebounds. Long was 4-of-7 outside the 3-point line today. GSU hit 6-of-15 3-point shots in the first half, but just 2-of-10 in the second half.
Tournament Most Outstanding Player Tiaria Griffin scored 14 points for Georgia, which improved to 8-0 on the season. Shacobia Barbee had a double-double for the Bulldogs with 12 points and 14 rebounds, along with six assists and seven steals.
In the consolation game, George Washington raced past Jacksonville State, 100-71.
The All-Tournament team included Candace Morton of Jacksonville State, Megan Nipe of George Washington, Hayley Gerrin and Kendra Long of Georgia State and Shacobia Barbee of Georgia. Georgia's Tiaria Griffin was named Most Valuable Player.
Georgia State will go play its fourth game in seven days when it travels up I-75 to meet Kennesaw State on Tuesday night. The game will be broacast on WRAS-FM (88.5).
NOTEBOOK:
- Kendra Long upped her career point total to 988 points, needing 12 more now to become the 21st in school history to score 1,000.
- Georgia ups its series lead to 17-10 all-time against Georgia State.
- Gaby Moss is still 50% beyond the 3-point line for the season, hitting 11-of-22 outside the arc.
- Long's 4 3-point baskets up her school career record total to 182 made.
- With 8 3-pointers today, GSU has made 49 in the 8 games this year (6 per game).
