STATESBORO, Ga. – Monique Floyd hit a floater in the lane to put UNCG up by a point with 4.7 seconds left, but Georgia Southern's Meredyth Frye answered with a layup as time expired to hand the Lady Eagles the 68-67 win on Saturday.
Frye's layup was reviewed by the officials but stood, marking the second time this season that UNCG (10-12, 7-7 Southern Conference) had seen a game end that way. Elon downed the Spartans on a bucket as time expired on Jan. 19.
Floyd scored a career-high 27 points in the losing effort, none of them bigger than the two that came in the closing seconds. Trailing 66-65, the Spartans got the ball back with 33.6 seconds left. Floyd missed a contested jumper, but Kendra Smith came away with a big offensive rebound. After timeouts by both sides, UNCG inbounded the ball with 8.3 ticks left and the game in the balance.
Floyd drove the lane and lifted a floater that dropped in for the go-ahead score, meaning UNCG just needed to get a stop to hang on for the road win.
Frye had other ideas, taking the ball the length of the court and getting the layup to fall as the final horn sounded.
Frye finished with 16 points, while Samantha Williams had 18 for the Lady Eagles (10-13, 7-7 SoCon).
The second half was a wild back-and-forth affair, with the lead changing hands 11 times, including twice in the final 5 seconds. After a pair of Frye free throws tied the contest at 33, UNCG rattled off an 8-0 run to open up some breathing room. Dayshaun Richbow, who finished with 11 points, had a pair of 3-pointers in the spurt.
GSU countered with a 9-0 run of its own, taking its first lead of the second half on a Williams three-point play with 12:59 left that made it 42-41.
The teams would trade baskets over the next few minutes, but three-point plays from Danielle Spencer and Frye made it a 53-49 contest with 7:41 left.
The Spartans would battle back to tie it on a Floyd layup that knotted things at 54, but Jordi Cook and Jamie Navarro hit 3-pointers on back-to-back GSU possessions to make it a four-point game again.
A Floyd jumper pulled UNCG back within two before the senior was fouled knocking down just her fourth career 3-pointer. Floyd couldn't complete the four-point player, however, missing the free throw for her only miss from the line on the night.
After the teams traded buckets again, Williams hit the front end of a two-shot foul to tie it at 63 with 1:59 left. A Frye layup and a Briana Scott free throw made it a 66-63 affair before Janae' Stevenson dropped in a layup for UNCG to cut it to one.
The Spartans got the defensive stop they needed on the other end, setting up the final 33.6 seconds.
UNCG finished with just eight turnovers, and scored 17 points off 13 GSU miscues.
The Lady Eagles shot an impressive 62.5 percent from the floor in the second half to overcome UNCG's 29-26 halftime lead.
Floyd finished with a game-high nine rebounds – six of them on the offensive end of the floor – to narrowly miss her third double-double of the season.
UNCG returns to action on Monday when it hosts Western Carolina at Fleming Gymnasium at 12 p.m.
AGATE
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 68, UNCG 67
UNCG (10-12, 7-7 SoCon)
Monique Floyd 11-16 4-5 27; Dayshaun Richbow 4-8 1-2 11; Janae' Stevenson 2-6 4-4 8; Brey Dorsett 3-6 0-1 7; Sidnei Harmon 3-3 0-0 6; Breonna Patterson 2-4 0-0 5; Amanda Leigh 1-5 0-0 3; Natalie Headley 0-0 0-0 0; Jazz Weaver 0-2 0-0 0; Sarah Folwell 0-0 0-0 0; Nneka Awuruonye 0-1 0-0 0; Kendra Smith 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 9-12 67.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (10-13,7-7 SoCon)
Samantha Williams 7-11 2-4 18; Meredyth Frye 6-12 4-4 16; Jamie Navarro 3-7 0-0 9; Danielle Spencer 4-7 1-1 9; Briana Scott 2-4 2-4 6; Ro-Ro Smith 2-6 1-2 5; Jordi Cook 1-2 0-0 3; Aishya Wofford 1-3 0-0 2; Logan Youngblood 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 10-15 68.
UNCG.......................... 29 38 - 67
Georgia Southern.............. 26 42 - 68
3-point goals--UNCG 6-18 (Dayshaun Richbow 2-4; Breonna Patterson 1-3; Brey Dorsett 1-3; Monique Floyd 1-1; Amanda Leigh 1-4; Kendra Smith 0-3), Georgia Southern 6-12 (Jamie Navarro 3-5; Samantha Williams 2-3; Jordi Cook 1-2; Logan Youngblood 0-1; Meredyth Frye 0-1). Fouled out--UNCG-None, Georgia Southern-None. Rebounds--UNCG 30 (Monique Floyd 9), Georgia Southern 37 (Aishya Wofford 6; Samantha Williams 6; Jamie Navarro 6). Assists--UNCG 9 (Brey Dorsett 3), Georgia Southern 17 (Samantha Williams 5). Total fouls--UNCG 15, Georgia Southern 11. Technical fouls--UNCG-None, Georgia Southern-None. A-1126
- UNCG -
