WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
* Georgia State earned one of the eight spots in the Sun Belt Tournament that starts March 11 in New Orleans.
* Alisha Andrews had a personal-best 13 assists and the team tied a season-high total with 22 assists in leading the team to the 66-61 win over UL Monroe.
* GSU made 9 of 20 3-point shots, with 5 of 7 coming from Makeba Ponder,
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MONROE, LA. – Georgia State claimed a berth in the eight-team Sun Belt Conference tournament with a 66-61 over the University of Louisiana at Monroe Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
GSU (13-15, 8-11) got 13 assists, eight points and three steals from point guard Alisha Andrews, along with 15 points on 5 of 7 treys from freshman Makeba Ponder. But, junior guard Gaby Moss was the one who really stepped up at the right time, scoring all seven of her points in the last two minutes of the game.
The see-saw game saw 11 lead changes and nine ties, the last coming at 59 with 2:00 to play. Moss then drained a 3-pointer on a pass from Andrews at 1:40 to put GSU up 62-59. When Alayshia Hunter scored a lay-up at 1:10, Moss came right back with a mid-range jump shot to make it 64-61 with 45 seconds left. Chelsea Tieuel missed with 16 seconds left, Haley Gerrin got the rebound and Andrews raced around the court as ULM tried to foul her and couldn't before she found Gerrin on the other end for the final basket with four seconds.
Host ULM (11-17, 7-12) had been tied with Georgia State in eighth place going into the game, but GSU had won in Atlanta and now owns the season series and tie-break advantage. GSU could finish in seventh with a win in Saturday's finale with Georgia Southern and an Appalachian State loss to UT Arlington on Saturday.
ULM got off to a fast start and led the first 10 minutes before GSU pulled ahead 14-13. But, ULM came back to take its largest lead of the game at 26-19 with 5:34. Georgia State went on a 10-2 run to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.
The chess match by the coaches saw them juggle all the players in foul trouble as post players Logan, Gerrin and Nichols all sat with two or more in the first half. Five GSU players had three fouls. ULM saw its star, Sharnice Brooks pick up two fouls in the first half and play just two minutes. ULM had three players with three fouls.
Georgia State shot 53.6 percent in the second half (15 of 28) and 45.8 for the game, getting to the free throw line to make just 3 of 4 shots. ULM shot 39 percent for the game (23 of 59) and made 10 of 14 free throws. The Panthers made 9 of 20 3-point shots, its sixth game with nine or more treys this season.
GSU tied its season high of 22 assists, led by the 13 from Andrews. It was her seventh game with 10 or more assists. The 13 tie for the third-most made in a game in school history (16 by Denise Lloyd in 1981).
Ponder produced her sixth game with five or more 3-point baskets made. She leads the Sun Belt and has 68 on the season (one shy of the school season record).
“We knew we had to win and I am proud of the team for coming through when they needed to,” head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “A lot of people did a lot of good things and we made the second-half shots and the big shots down the stretch. The speed of a game always changes with Alisha Andrews in it and she made a huge difference. We got in foul trouble early, but fought our way through it and played pretty good defense in holding them to 61 points.”
The Panthers have won five of their last eight games and picked up four road wins in the Sun Belt this year.
Georgia State plays its final regular season game at noon Saturday in Atlanta against last-place Georgia Southern on Senior Day. The Sun Belt Tournament starts Wednesday, March 11 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
