ATLANTA - In a see-saw game with 11 lead changes and seven ties, Western Kentucky pulled away late to win its seventh straight game, 79-63 over host Georgia State.
Georgia State started with a 7-0 lead in 90 seconds and built that lead to 20-12 with 8:30 to go in the first half. Western Kentucky went on a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 21-20 with 6:12 in the half. But, GSU guard Alisha Andrews hit a 3-pointer for her 1,000th career point and tied the game at 23 with five minutes to play. GSU went back up by three points, but WKU battled back to tie the game at halftime 33-33. A key for Georgia State was 6-foot-4 center Brittany Logan picking up a third foul with a minute to play.
In the second half, WKU attacked first to open a 43-37 lead after five minutes. But, host GSU answered right back with a 6-0 run to tie the game at 43-43 with 13:52. A few seconds later, Logan picked up a fourth foul and headed for the bench.
Georgia State hustled its way back into the lead and senior guard Kendra Long knocked down a jumper to push host GSU up 52-49 as the clock hit 10:00 to play.
But, with Logan out and back-up Haley Gerrin out for the year with a back injury, WKU could attack at will down low. And, attack they did. The Hilltoppers went on a 19-2 run over the next five and a half minutes to open up a 68-54 lead at 4:45. WKU shot 60.6% in the second half, making 20-of-33 shots. For the day, WKU was 0-for-12 outside the 3-point arc, ending a 77-game streak.
GSU closed back to 10 at 71-61 with 2:55 to go, but could not sustain a rally.
Georgia State's only senior, Kendra Long, led the Panthers with 14 points and her 218th and 219th career 3-point baskets. Long also added six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Logan was able to score 13 points on 5-of-9 to go with seven rebounds in her abbreviated 23 minutes of play. Point guard Alisha Andrews added 12 more points, six assists and three steals, while Ashlee Cole scored 11 more for GSU.
The catalyst for WKU today was freshman Bria Gaines who came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points and grab 10 rebounds. Gaines came in averaging 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds a game. Chastity Gooch was 2-for-7 in the first half for five points, but added 12 points in the final seven and a half minutes to finish with 23 points to go with nine rebounds.
"I credit Western Kentucky because they are probably playing the best in the league right now with their win streak and a lot of 20-plus point wins this year in the conference," coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener started postgame.
"When Logan is out that hurts us on both ends of the floor and affects both the offense and defense in a big way," Baldwin-Tener said. "With Gerrin also out, we're kind of thin in the post right now.
"I think we came out really ready to play to day and fought hard. We had the lead for a quite a while, but we fouled too much and threw the ball away too much to give ourselves any chance to win. We forced a lot of shots down the stretch instead of sticking with the offense."
"But, we've beaten every team of the eight in the tournament this year except for WKU, so we're going down to New Orleans with a positive attitude and belief that we can win."
The tournament begins with all eight teams on Wednesday and GSU will find out where it is seeded later this evening. If the Panthers stay fifth, they will play at 2:30 CT. If they drop to sixth, they will play at 8:30 p.m.
