ROCK HILL, S.C. – Two late 3-pointers at the hands of Myra Strickland and a clutch steal from Maleeah Langstaff on a fourth-quarter inbound lifted the Eagles over the Bucs, 59-56, Friday afternoon. Winthrop is now 4-10 on the season and 3-8 against Big South opponents.

WINTHROP (4-10, 3-8 BSC)
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
Myra Strickland (19 points, 6 rebounds, 4-of-9 3FG)
Sierra Hunter (11 points – career-high, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal)

CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (6-9, 4-7 BSC)
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
Tori Gittens (14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists)
Sharita Godfrey (12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal)

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
FIRST QUARTER 

• Charleston Southern took a quick 5-0 lead off a triple by Tori Gittens and a Jamya Rogers layup
• Madison Ervin got the Eagles on the board at the 8:18 mark with a layup
• Alyssia Faye fouled Myra Strickland to send her to the line, she made both free throws to make it a one point contest
• Sierra Hunter stripped the ball from Faye on the next position and scored at the other end to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead
• Tori Gittens hit a jumper before Sharita Godfrey hit a big shot from deep to take a 10-8 lead over the home team.
• Sydney Hunter tied it at eight with a layup with less than two minutes to play
• Myra Strickland hit a 3-pointer before the buzzer to give the Eagles a 13-10 lead after 10 minutes of play 

SECOND QUARTER 

• Back-to-back jumpers from Myra Strickland and J'Mani Ingram extended Winthrop's lead to seven to open the second quarter
• Sharita Godfrey responded with her second 3-pointer of the afternoon, Winthrop leads 17-13
• CSU chipped into Winthrop's lead, making it a one-possession game off a Sha'mya Leigh layup, 20-18
• Alexis Sykes responded with a corner 3-pointer, Winthrop leads by five, 23-18
• Sharita Godfrey and Tyra Wright exchange baskets to make it a two point game in Winthrop's favor, 25-23
• Madison Ervin responds with a 3-pointer to once again make it a five-point contest
• As time expired, Janaia Fargo hit a shot from deep, cutting Winthrop's lead to just two points at halftime

THIRD QUARTER

• The Eagles and Bucs opened the second half with back-to-back turnovers on four consecutive possessions
• Neither team scored until the 7:10 mark when Tori Gittens hit a three to make it a 33-32 game in favor of CSU
• Sierra Hunter got the Eagles on the board nearly halfway through the quarter to regain the lead, 34-33
• Janaia Fargo tipped the ball away from Ingram, making the shot to give the Bucs  a four-point edge, 38-34
• Langstaff responded with a layup of her own to keep it a one possession game
• Myra Strickland gave Winthrop back the lead with a clutch 3-pointer, assisted by Alexis Sykes
• With 32 seconds remaining in the quarter, Alyssia Faye tied the contest at 42 heading into the fourth quarter

 
FOURTH QUARTER

• Anika Riley dishes it to Sierra Hunter for the first basket of the quarter, 44-42 Winthrop
• Jamya Rogers quickly knotted the game up at 44
• With her first points of the game, Riley makes two free throws and a jumper on back-to-back possessions to make it a 48-47 game in favor of the Eagles
• The Eagles and Bucs go back-and-forth with Winthrop regaining a one-point lead off a Myra Strickland-3-pointer with 4:04 remaining in the game, 51-49
• Janaia Fargo tied it at 51 with 2:57 on the clock.
• The Eagles went on a 4-0 run to take a 55-51 lead
• Coming out of the timeout, Myra Strickland hit a 3-pointer, her fourth of the night, to swing the momentum in Winthrop's favor and take a five-point lead with 18 seconds on the clock
• Sharita Godfrey, who is shooting 47 percent from deep this season, hit a clutch shot to bring her team back within one basket with 15 seconds remaining in the contest, 58-56
• A foul is called on Maleeah Langstaff, giving CSU the ball back
• Langstaff stole the ball away from Fargo on the inbound and gets the foul call
• She makes 1-of-2 free throws, securing the 59-56 win

THE NUMBERS

• Winthrop out rebounded the Bucs, 34-29
• The Eagles finished the contest shooting 39 percent from the field, 33 percent from 3-point range and 76 percent from the line
• The Buccaneers finished the contest shooting 41 percent from the field, 47 percent from behind-the-arc and 70 percent from the free throw line
• 22 of Winthrop's 59 points came off the bench, led by Sierra Hunter with 11
• The Eagles turned the ball over 16 times, resulting in nine points for CSU
• Charleston Southern turned the ball over 17 times, resulting in eight points for the Eagles
• Winthrop committed 11 of its 16 turnovers in the second half.
• This is the Eagles first set of back-to-back wins since defeating Longwood and Charleston Southern on Jan. 21 and Jan. 25 of 2020

 
UP NEXT
The Eagles will look to sweep the series against the Buccaneers on Saturday afternoon when they take on Charleston Southern once again. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. and all the action can be seen on ESPN+.