The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team was victorious in its home opener on Monday night for the second year in a row. With the help of a 15-2 fourth quarter, the Eagles were able to pull a 68-63 win from the close game over the College of Costal Georgia Mariners.

First Half

Both teams came out strong, shooting a combined 50 percent from 3-point range and headed to the second quarter tied at 22 points.

In the second quarter both teams began to have a problem making shots – only four points were scored from each team in the first five minutes. Junior forward Alexis Foulks then broke an 0-of-7 dry spell by draining a three-pointer from beyond the arc for the Eagles, giving the home team a 36-35 leg up on the Mariners.

Although they pushed their lead even farther with a sunken free throw from Rhein Beamon, Coastal Georgia gained the lead again with a three-pointer scored in the final four seconds of the half, leaving the Eagles trailing 38-37.

Second Half

The Eagles came out shooting another dry spell in the third quarter going 0-of-12 from the floor, until sophomore guard Jakayvea Akins found the net just six seconds before the quarter ended.

The points from the end of that quarter seemed to spark a fire in the Eagles, as they went on a 15-2 run over the Mariners, earning them a 64-57 lead with two and a half minutes remaining in the game. To seal the deal, sophomore guard Nakol Franks drained a 3-pointer with 1:08 left, leaving the Eagles victorious.

“I thought we came out in the second half and guarded a lot harder, which is what we challenged them to do,” GS head coach Kip Drown told gseagles.com. “We were just trying to keep our head above water until we could get going.”

Analysis

Franks led the Eagles with 13 points- all in the second half, trailed by Sierra Butler with 10 points. The Eagles finished the game shooting 35.6 percent from the floor, and hitting 20-of-32 free-throws from the line for a 62.5 percent clip.

Next up

The 1-1 Eagles’ next matchup will be on the road as they face the Mercer University Bears on Thursday November 16, at 7 p.m. in Macon, Georgia.