LAFAYETTE - Mikyla Tolivert and Deasia Merrill both scored in double-figures as Georgia State fell to Louisiana 54-41 in their Sun Belt Conference opener at the Cajundome on Thursday night.

Tolivert led the Panthers (6-8, 0-1 Sun Belt) with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting with five rebounds.  Merrill shot 4-of-8 from the floor to score 12 points with a team-high seven rebounds.

Trailing by 11, Georgia State opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run on three free-throws by Deasia Merrill and a three-pointer by Alex Gitchenko but would get no closer as the offense stalled, failing to make a field goal in the final 8:32 minutes. 

GSU held Louisiana (7-6, 1-0) to 35.2 percent shooting but couldn't overcome their own offensive struggles, shooting 32.6 percent from the floor.

Mikyla Tolivert made the first basket of the game with a layup to give GSU and early 2-0 lead, but Georgia State trailed 14-12 after the first quarter.  The Panthers briefly took the lead again on a jumper and free-throw by Tehya Lyons with 2:58 left in the second. 

They trailed 25-23 at halftime when Louisiana started to pull away, outscoring GSU 18-9 in the third quarter capped off by back-to-back threes from Lanay Wheaton to push the deficit to double-digits.

Georgia State will return to action at ULM for New Years Eve on Saturday, December 31.  Tipoff is at 12 p.m.