ATLANTA - Paced by Kendra Long's career-best 27 points, Georgia State raced away from Texas State 82-69 in a Sun Belt Conference game Monday evening at the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State (7-5 Sun Belt, 11-13 overall) shot 50.8% for the game (30-of-59) and made 17-of-18 free throws (94.4%) to end Texas State's five-game winning streak.

After Texas State (8-4, 11-12) had erased an 11-point GSU first half lead to tie the game at 37 at halftime, Georgia State was forced to step the tempo up in the second half.

The teams traded baskets for much of the second half with GSU staying ahead for all but about 45 seconds when Texas State had a 42-41 lead at 16:56. It was only 61-57 in GSU's favor with 4:33 to play when Long and center Brittany Logan went to work. A jumper by Long, a follow-up and free throw by Long and two free throws by Logan got things started and built GSU's lead up to eight points at 68-60 with 3:01. A 3-pointer by Alisha Andrews got it to double figures at 71-60 at 2:23. GSU continued to make its free throws to pull away for the win.

Long, the team's only senior, scored 17 of her 27 points in the second half. While this was her 10th game with 20 or more points, it was her single game high among her 1,193 career points and 62 double-figure games. She shot 8-for-12, including 2-of-2 outside the arc, to go with a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

 Logan, the 6-foot-4 junior center, came off the bench to score 16 points, grab nine rebounds and block three shots. Sophomore forward Morgan Jackson scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds. Junior forward Maryam Dogo also got a start and contributed seven rebounds and six points.

Texas State was led by guard Ariel Anderson with 19 points in reserve, adding 4-of-7 3-point baskets. Erin Peoples added 16 points and center Ashley Ezeh netted 14 more points for the Bobcats, a new Sun Belt team like Georgia State.

"I was proud of the team for bouncing back quickly from Saturday's game and being ready," coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. "We got the lead and were able to extend it at the end tonight. We played to win and didn't played scared with the lead."

Asked about Long's slashing and driving and not just shooting 3-pointers (Long has a school-record 208 treys), Baldwin-Tener said: "It's about time the only senior stepped up to give us more than just a couple 3-pointers. She can drive the ball very well and we preach that to her to do it more, so I'm glad she got some reward for doing it tonight. Maybe I can get her to keep doing that."

Queried about Jackson and Dogo starting and Logan off the bench, the veteran coach said: "Morgan understands what we want done and the game of basketball, so she gets in there and does her best. Dogo gave us some good minutes and tough play, too. Logan is physical and we need her to play smart and use that size without getting into foul trouble and you can see how effective she can be."

Georgia State has now beaten the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Sun Belt standings and at 7-5 is a half-game out of third place with two teams at 8-5. The Panthers are in the midst of four games in eight days and will play host to UL-Monroe on Wednesday evening at the Sports Arena.

NOTEBOOK:

• Georgia State has topped 75 points its last three games. This is the Panthers' sixth game with 80 or more points.
• While Long has her 1,000 points already, backcourt mate Alisha Andrews is closing in with 951 points and she is just a junior.
• The double-figure game by Morgan Jackson is her second this season.
• Andrews, who leads the Sun Belt in assists with 4.9 per game, had four this evening to up her total to 116 on the year.
• The 5-of-9 3-pointers was at 55.6%, second-best to the 9-of-14 (64.3%) in the win over Arkansas State.
• GSU's backcourt is cashing in from the free throw line. Long is hitting 81.7% on 67-of-82, while Andrews is besting that with 83.3% on her 25-of-30.