ATLANTA - Georgia State rallied from nine points down in the second half to earn a 61-56 win over Samford in the opening round of the GSU Thanksgiving Invitational in the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State will meet Liberty, a 80-68 winner over Penn State, in Sunday's championship game at 2:30 p.m. Samford and Penn State will play at 12:30 p.m.

Who led the Panthers Friday?

• Senior guard Kayla Nolan scored 20 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made four steals to spark the effort in running GSU's record to 3-0.
• Alisha Andrews scored 14 points and made four assists, starting her 100th consecutive game.
• Senior center Brittany Logan added 10 points and eight rebounds.
• Sophomore forward Haley Gerrin pulled down seven rebounds.

The Panthers struggled early with their shooting, hitting just 32.5 percent in the first half in trailing 30-29. Georgia State got the lead 33-32, but Samford went on an 11-1 run to open a 43-34 advantage at 12:42.

Host Georgia State continued to chip away and got a one-point lead with 6:45 to play. Samford answered with a basket, but a Brittany Logan gave GSU the lead for good at 54-53 with 5:16. A steal and lay-up by Andrews made it 56-53 and another high-arcing base line floater by Andrews upped the lead to 58-53 at 3:59.

With GSU leading 59-56 with 1:31, Samford had a chance for a tie, but a shot clock violation gave the ball back to the hosts. Nolan made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Georgia State held Samford to 26 points in the second half, forcing 20 turnovers and making eight steals for the game.

What did Coach Baldwin-Tener think?

• “We played with more energy on defense in the final 8-10 minutes and we needed that,” coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “This was the first time we had been behind this season, so it gave us a chance to see how respond to a little adversity. They played together and just chipped away on offense while the defense gave us the chance.”

Georgia State got off 17 more shots than Samford (67-50) and held a 38-36 rebounding advantage for the game.

NOTEBOOK:

• GSU held a third straight opponent this year under 60 points, upping that measure of success to 22 wins in the last 25 games when doing so.
• Alisha Andrews played and started in her 100th collegiate game. Her 14 points up her career total to 1,037 points scored. She is closing in on 500 career assists with 12 this year and 478 career.
• Brittany Logan ran her double-figure scoring streak to eight games and 10 of her last 11 in double figures.
• GSU had 8 steals Friday to up the season total to 43 (14.5 per game). The Panthers have forced 75 turnovers in three games (25.0).
• Georgia State had a rebound advantage for the second time in the three games this year and 14th time in the last 17 games.