ATLANTA – Georgia State blended balanced scoring with solid rebounding and key defensive stops to secure a 74-69 Sun Belt Conference win over Texas State in women's basketball Monday evening at the GSU Sports Arena.

The Panthers (7-5, 2-1) turned back the team picked to finish third in the Sun Belt with four players in double figures to post their fourth win in the past six games. Texas State (7-5, 2-1) had won five of its last six games coming into tonight.

GSU senior center Brittany Logan had her fifth double-double in the last six games with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Kayla Nolan added 14 points and six rebounds. Freshman forward Kennesha Nichols made her first collegiate start and hit 5 of 6 shots for 10 points with eight rebounds. Junior guard Ashlee Cole came off the bench to hit three 3-point baskets and score 12 points. Senior Alisha Andrews added spark with eight points and six assists.

Texas State got 19 points and 10 rebounds from Erin Peoples to go with 17 points and eight assists from Ayriel Anderson and 15 rebounds from Jacqueline Jeffcoat.

Georgia State built an early 10-point lead at 17-7, but visiting Texas State came back to close the gap 29-25 at halftime.

In the second half, GSU bounced back out to another 10-point lead at 48-38 with 12:30 to play and grew that into a 12-point margin at 56-44 with 7:50 remaining. But Texas State was not going to give in that easy and rolled back to make it 57-54 with 5:38 still to go. It was 60-54 with 4:53 to go when things took a sour turn for GSU as forward Haley Gerrin sustained a back injury and was on the floor for several minutes before leaving the court. Logan had just been whistled for her fourth foul at the same time.

When Texas State hit two free throws to make it 60-56, Nolan hit two free throws and then a driving lay-up to push it back to 64-56 with 2:44. The Panthers got it back to 10 points at 73-63 with 26.5 seconds and Texas State finished with five points in the last 13 seconds to close to the final 74-69 margin.

Georgia State had a 44-40 rebound advantage with 13 offensive boards. They got to the free throw line 26 times and made 20 of them. The defense forced 15 turnovers and made 11 steals.

“It was a good team effort with a lot of people who contributed to tonight's win,” coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “Texas State is a good team and beat us handily in the tournament last year, so we wanted to show some resiliency tonight. We kept our composure and battled all game long through some adversity. The defense stepped up at some key times and we battled hard on the boards. This was an important win and moves us to 2-1 in the league and might help with some confidence.”

Georgia State heads on the road to play at UL Lafayette on Thursday.

NOTEBOOK:

• Georgia State started two freshmen tonight with Kennesha Nichols and Makeba Ponder. Nichols had 10 points to top a pair of eight-point games. Ponder has six double-figure games this year.
  
• Eight of GSU's games this year have been decided in single digits with four wins and four losses now.
• Alisha Andrews is closing in on 500 assists, edging up to 497 with six tonight.
• Ashlee Cole's second trey tonight was her 400th career point.
• GSU's transition game accounted for 20 fast-break points tonight.
• GSU's 17 assists tied for second-most in a game this season. Watson and Andrews each had six.
• GSU had held a rebound advantage in 8 of the 12 games this year and 20 of the last 26 overall.
• The Panthers scored more than 70 points for the 8th time in the 12 games this year.
• Nolan's double-figure game was her 36th career as she closes in on 800 career points (787)
• Ashlee Cole's 3 3-point baskets are her fourth career game with 3 (55 career total).
• Ashley Watson had six assists and no turnovers to up her season to 46 turnovers and just 16 turnovers (+30) to rank in the top 30 in the NCAA.