WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
* Troy outlasted Georgia State 88-75 in the usual high-scoring shootout to post its seventh straight win.
* Troy's 40 points off Georgia State's 26 turnovers proved the biggest difference
* Makeba Ponder scored 23 points with 5 of 8 3-points to give her 63 on the season, second-most in a season in school history.
* GSU is tied for eighth with the team it will play Thursday (UL Monroe) before coming home to play last-place Georgia Southern on Saturday.
TROY, ALA. – Georgia State scored 50 points and shot 62.5 percent in the second half, but that wasn't good enough in the usual Troy shoot-out as the host Trojans held on for its 88-75 win Saturday in women's basketball.
These two Sun Belt rivals have yet to play a game with under 160 combined points and they bombed away today with 137 field goal attempts, 43 free throws, with 38 assists and 26 steals.
Troy (19-9, 14-5) won its seventh straight game by forcing 26 turnovers and turning those into 40 points as the Trojans took full advantage of Georgia State being without suspended starting point guard Alisha Andrews, who leads the Sun Belt in assist-turnover ratio. Troy ended with 19 steals.
Today, the Trojans started fast, opening a 15-3 lead by 14:54 of the game by making 6 of 9 field goals, while GSU hit just 2 of 9. In the first half, Georgia State could get no closer than 12 points at 35-23 with 2:50. But, Troy finished strong to take a 43-25 halftime advantage. GSU shot just 8 of 30 field goals in the first half (26.7%) and Troy went 0 for 13 outside the 3-point arc.
In the second half, it was Georgia State who started strong and went on to outscore Troy 50-45 in the second stanza. Georgia State kept in striking distance by making 13 of its first 17 shots in the second half and it was 66-54 with 9:43 to play. But, Troy grew the lead back to 20 on a trey at 81-61 with 5:58.
Georgia State got 23 points in 23 minutes from freshman guard Makeba Ponder, who sat much of the first half with three fouls. She hit 5 of 8 3-point baskets to up her season total to 63, tied for second-most made in a season at GSU. She's hitting better than 40 percent outside the arc for the season. Senior center Brittany Logan added a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds in her 22 minutes with four fouls. Guard Ashley Watson added 10 more points and eight assists for the Panthers.
Troy was led by senior center Ronita Garrett with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Beverly-Kelley added 15 more, despite 0 for 6 outside the 3-point line.
Georgia State finished with a 42-40 rebound advantage and had 20 assists to Troy's 18 helpers.
The Panthers sit tied for eighth place in the Sun Belt with UL Monroe, the team they will play on Thursday in Monroe, La. GSU edged UL Monroe earlier this season in Atlanta. GSU closes the season next Saturday at home in Atlanta with Georgia Southern, the last-place team in the Sun Belt.
“I guess I can be proud we fought back in the second half like we did,” coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said postgame. “But we turned the ball over way too much. Yes, we expected them to press more since we didn't have our starting point guard, but the rest of the team has to handle that better. Many of those turnovers were on us, more than cause by them. Ponder is a competitor and she really knows how to get the ball in the basket. Logan was effective and played well in spots today, too. But, we gave up too many offensive rebounds and gave them too many shots at the baskets. Now, we have to turn all our attention and energy on next week and see what happens. It is in our control.”
