GSU Snaps Furman Win Strea

Georgia Southern used a come-from-behind effort and a Sharon Mitchell layup with :07 remaining to beat Furman 70-66 in Southern Conference women's basketball action Monday night at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The win was Georgia Southern's 10th in a row and 13th in its last 15 games, as it continues to stay in the hunt for the Southern Conference regular season title with an overall record of 20-6 and a league mark of 14-3. Georgia Southern entered the night in a three-way tie for first place with Chattanooga and UNC Greensboro. It also marks the first 20-win season for Georgia Southern since the 1993-94 season when the Lady Eagles went 21-9.

Georgia Southern put three players in double figures, led by Alie Rousseau's 12 points, all off three-pointers. Mitchell added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Danna Simpson chipped in 10 for the winners. Tara Charles led Furman (17-9 overall, 11-6 in the SoCon) with 17 points, while Kim Lawrence added 16 and Deshara Shealey 12 in the losing cause.

After trailing 25-24 at intermission, GSU immediately took back the lead early in the second period off two Mitchell free throws, and it widened the deficit to as many as seven points, 43-36, before the visitors made their second-half run. Furman hit 4-of-6 three-pointers in the second half, two of which helped spark an 11-4 run that tied the game at 45-45 with 9:49 remaining. But Georgia Southern responded with an 8-0 run of its own that started with Lauren Langley's layup that gave the Lady Eagles the lead for good.

A pair of treys by Shealey with under two minutes remaining cut the GSU lead to three, 67-64, and put the Lady Paladins in reasonable position to tie the game after a missed layup by Georgia Southern. But Torrie Scott's three-pointer attempt with :16 showing fell short, and GSU turned a defensive rebound into a fastbreak opportunity, which was capped with Mitchell's layup that sealed the game. Charles hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to cut the lead back to three, but GSU's Tiffany Lanier answered with a made foul shot of her own to hold on to the win.

Furman out-rebounded Georgia Southern, 42-38, for the game.

The win marked the first time this season in six tries that the Lady Eagles were victorious after trailing at halftime.

Georgia Southern will play its final game of the regular season when it hosts Davidson this Saturday at 7 p.m. Furman will return home for its final regular season game against East Tennessee State., that game also to be played on Saturday at 7 p.m.