ATLANTA – Deasia Merrill scored 23 points and Mikyla Tolivert scored 20 as Georgia State used a dominant defensive second half to top Appalachian State 64-56 at the GSU Convocation Center on Thursday night.

Merrill shot 10-of-15 and grabbed 13 rebounds, equaling her career-high, to record her fifth double-double of the season.  Tolivert shot 8-of-16 and 2-of-5 from three and has now scored 20 or more points in three straight games, averaging 23.3 points and shooting just under 50 percent in that span.

Alyssa Phillip also played a huge role in Georgia State's huge 47-26 rebounding advantage, pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds in her fourth straight start.

"We've been close so many games this season, and I just wanted to put my head down and do what I could to help us get this win," said Phillip on her performance on the defensive end.  "We've been talking about it all season, just doing the little things.  I may not be scoring too much, but I want to make sure that I can help the team in other ways."

GSU (9-13, 3-6 Sun Belt) clamped down defensively after trailing 35-33 at halftime, holding Appalachian State to just 6-of-33 (18.2 percent) in the second half and not allowing a field goal in the final 7:09 minutes of the fourth quarter.

"We needed a win.  We talked about it before the game, just making sure we tried to do the little things," said GSU head coach Gene Hill.  "I really felt like we competed for 40 minutes this game.  I think we've had times where in the third period, we'd come out slow, and I felt like this time we came out ready to play in the third period.  A little too many turnovers, so it was a little ugly, but as I told the players in the locker room, 'it may be an ugly baby, but it's our baby.  We're taking it home with us,' so we'll take that win.  Definitely proud of the effort."

Down by seven with 5:05 left in the third, Georgia State went on a 9-0 run on a pair of baskets by Mikyla Tolivert and two layups with a three-point play by Deasia Merrill to take a 46-44 lead.  A Mountaineer a three-pointer put them back up 47-46 with 1:30 left before Tolivert put the Panthers back in front with a jumper and Nyla Jean hit two free throws to send them into the fourth quarter up 50-47.

The Panthers trailed 55-54 in the fourth when Merrill's layup with 2:37 left put them up for good.  Then Tolivert hit a huge three-pointer with 50 seconds left to reach the 20 point plateau and increase GSU's lead to four as the Panthers would go on to seal the game at the free throw line.

The game featured 18 lead changes, and both teams were tied seven times.

Georgia State will face James Madison on Saturday, January 28 at the GSU Convocation Center.  Tipoff is at 2:00 p.m.