STATESBORO, Ga. – Chanelle McDonald and Asianae Nicholson each scored nine points Tuesday evening as Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball fell to Georgia Southern, 54-50 inside Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia.
 
With the game tied at 40-40 heading into the fourth quarter, Georgia Southern (3-0) took advantage of four Bethune-Cookman turnovers in the final stanza, as well as eight offensive rebounds to outscore the Wildcats 7-0 in second-chance points.
 
Bethune-Cookman (1-2) used a jumper in the paint from senior center Kayla Clark to cut the Eagles lead at 44-42 before the hosts hit a three-pointer from McKenna Eddings to widen the lead. Just a minute later, Jazmyne Jackson's three-pointer allowed GSU a 50-42 lead with 5:53 remaining.
 
Trailing 51-46 with just over three minutes showing on the clock, B-CU freshman guard Janessa Kelley connected on a pull-up jumper. Shomari Phillips' floater in the paint pulled the Wildcats to within 52-50 with less than a minute left after GSU's Indya Green connected on 1-of-2 at the foul line.
 
B-CU had a chance to tie the game with Phillips' shot rimming out with six seconds to play. Nakiyah Mays-Prince hit a pair of free throws to close the win for the Eagles.
 
Bethune-Cookman used six points from Phillips in the second quarter as the Cats registered 12 bench points over the course of the period.
 
After Nicholson's putback layup tied the game at 12-12, freshman guard Jordan Brooks drove to the basket for one of her seven points on the night to put the Cats ahead, 14-12. The two teams traded free throws over the next two minutes until a Deannasty Smith layup for the Eagles allowed the hosts to take a 17-16 lead with 5:24 remaining in the opening half.
 
A Phillips three-pointer put B-CU back on top before a Smith jumper for GSU knotted the game once again, this time at 19-19. Another Phillips jumper, as the Texas A&M transfer finished the night with eight points on 2-for-8 from three-point range, put the Cats back up, until a 4-0 run by the Eagles with an Eddings driving layup and a Bukky Akinsola shot off the glass stemming from a B-CU turnover. The lead would swell to five (27-22) before Kelley stepped to the line and connected on all three free throw attempts as the Pompano Beach, Florida, native was fouled in the process of shooting a three-pointer.
 
A Daimoni Dorsey turnaround jumper was good to tie the game at 29 as the two teams headed into the locker room at the half.
 
Georgia Southern was led by Akinsola with nine points. Eddings and Jackson also scored eight points each in the game. Green led all players with 14 rebounds, while Leah Johnson had three blocks.
 
B-CU was led in scoring by McDonald and Nicholson with nine points each. Nicholson also provided 11 rebounds – giving her double-digit rebounds in consecutive games. Clark finished with nine rebounds of her own.
 
The Cats continue their road swing with a visit to Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m., in Boca Raton.
 
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