UNCW Gets Past Georgia State 66-59 In CAA Women's First-Round Tournament Play

UNCW Gets Past Georgia State 66-59 In CAA Women's First-Round Tournament Play

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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 8, 2012) - Sophomore Abria Trice scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half to lead fifth-seeded UNCW to a 66-59 victory over #12 Georgia State in the first round of the Virginia 529 CAA Women's Basketball Championship Thursday afternoon at The Show Place Arena.

UNCW (19-11) advances to Friday's 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal matchup against fourth-seeded Hofstra. GSU saw its season come to an end with an 8-22 mark.

Trice led a balanced scoring effort for the Seahawks, who had six players with eight or more points. Sophomore guard Alisha Andrews had nine points and seven assists and junior forward Karneshia Garrett contributed eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Senior Chan Harris recorded a double-double for GSU with a game-high 18 points, a team-best 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Panthers also got eight points apiece from Sade Means, Jerlisa Taylor and Ashley Watson.

The Seahawks didn't trail in the second half, but could never build a comfortable margin against the Panthers. UNCW went up 49-39 on Tawanna Lee's three-pointer from the corner with 8:01 remaining, but GSU answered with back-to-back buckets from Harris to get within 49-43.

UNCW's Ayoola Weaver converted a three-point play with 2:52 left to give the Seahawks a 61-53 cushion, but the Panthers battled back again and closed to within 62-59 on a Harris putback with 40 seconds to go. UNCW was able ice the game from the line as Trice and Garrett combined to hit four straight free throws in the final 33 seconds.

UNCW took a 30-23 lead into halftime after closing the period on a 21-9 run. The Seahawks scored the game's first four points, but then failed to get on the board for the next 11:14. Georgia State took advantage, reeling off 11 consecutive points to grab its largest lead, 11-4, on a Cody Paulk free throw with 9:24 remaining.

GSU still led 17-15 on a Tiffany Anderson jumper with 4:38 left in the period, but UNCW went on a 9-0 surge to grab a 24-17 advantage after a pair of Andrews free throws. Andrews and Jessica Freeman contributed eight points apiece for UNCW in the first half, while Harris had 10 points for GSU.

UNCW shot just 33.3% from the floor for the game, but hit 7-of-17 from 3-point range and held a 51-38 rebounding advantage. GSU connected on 36.1% of its field goal attempts, but was 0-for-4 on 3-pointers.