Early’s Strong 2nd Half Pushes ‘Cats to 79-66 Win at Georgia Southern

Saturday, January 18

Statesboro, Ga.

5:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

9-9, 6-1SoCon

Georgia Southern

5-13, 3-4SoCon

Davidson

Georgia Southern

Early’s Strong 2nd Half Pushes ‘Cats to 79-66 Win at Georgia Southern

1/18/2014 7:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID

Box Score (html)
DavidsonPhotos.com

STATESBORO, Ga. — Junior Hannah Early lit up the nets for 16 of her game-high 22 points in the second half in helping Davidson pull away from Georgia Southern on the road, 79-66, Saturday afternoon in Hanner Fieldhouse in Southern Conference women's basketball action.

Davidson netted its third straight win to reach .500 for the first time since the second week of the season, moving to 9-9 and 6-1 in league play. The Eagles fell to 5-13 overall and 3-4 in the SoCon.

Early finished 9-of-16 from the floor, including 6-for-9 in the second half. All three of her three-balls came in a 19-7 run by the Wildcats that turned a 56-54 lead into a commanding 75-61 advantage with 2:32 left in the game. The junior scored 12 of the 'Cats' 19 points.

Laura Murray followed with her 84th career double figure scoring game, getting 19 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds. Dakota Dukes added 10 points.

GSU put four players in double digits, led by Anna Claire Knight's 19 points, 10 of them coming in the first half. MiMi DuBose chipped in 17, but just two after halftime, while Briana Jones and Angel McGowan scored 10 apiece. Danielle Spencer pulled in 11 rebounds.

Davidson finished the game shooting 44.1 percent, while holding the Eagles to 37.5 percent and forcing 21 turnovers, which turned into 29 Wildcat points.

Down 38-36 at the break, the Wildcats took over the lead for good on a Dukes' layup inside to make it 44-42 with 15:58 remaining. Following the game-changing run, they would lead by as many as 16 (77-61) on two of free throws by Dukes with two minutes left.

The first half featured a pair of runs by both teams. The Eagles raced out to a 22-9 lead with just under 11 minutes to go in the half. They used four triples in grabbing the lead, three of them combined by DuBose and Knight.

Davidson responded with a 17-4 spurt over the next six minutes to tie things up at 26-all on a pair of fast-break layups by Lillian McCabe and Shannon Eriksson with 5:46 left.

After the Wildcats had a brief 36-35 lead on two Rachel Piles' free throws with 42 ticks left, DuBose capped her solid first half off with a three-point play to give her 15 points for the half and GSU held a two-point lead going into the locker room.

The Wildcats take a week off before heading up the mountain to play at Appalachian State, Jan. 25, and Western Carolina, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.

GAME NOTES: Davidson improved to 25-19 all-time vs. GSU, winning the last six straight and 19 of the past 21 meetings … today's game was the Wildcats' last trip to Statesboro, Ga., as a member of the SoCon … head coach Michele Savage is now 6-1 vs. Ga. Southern … Early's 20-point outing was her seventh of the year.