Rock Hill, S.C. – Trailing 60-57 with two minutes left, Winthrop hit eight straight free throws to secure a come-from-behind victory over Georgia State by a final score of 65-60 on Thursday evening, ending a season-high four-game home stand on a positive note.
Winthrop (6-5) | Georgia State (4-4)
Dec. 14, 2023 | Rock Hill Sports and Events Center
Winthrop 65, Georgia State 60
How it Happened
First Quarter | Winthrop started the night with a 14-9 lead nearly five minutes in thanks to two triples and a layup by
Leonor Paisana. The Eagles then scored eight of the next 15 points to take a six-point lead at 22-16 at the 1:20 mark. This represented their largest lead of the frame and eventually led 23-18 after 10 minutes of play.
Second Quarter | Winthrop quickly scored the first four points of the second quarter, forcing a Georgia State timeout. The Panthers responded coming out of the break by going on a 13-3 to take a 31-30 lead at the 3:14 mark and holding the Eagles to one field goal over the next six minutes. Paisana ended the drought by hitting her third three-pointer of the half on the next play to put the Eagles back in the lead. The visitors hit the tying field goal at the gun two minutes later, leaving the contest knotted at 33 at intermission.
Third Quarter |
Marissa Gasaway started the second half with a layup. Both teams combined to hit four straight triples, leaving Winthrop up 41-39 and then traded two-point baskets on the next couple of plays, keeping Winthrop in the lead at 47-46 at the 3:15 mark. Georgia State went back in front a minute later on an old-fashioned three-point play and extended it to four on a layup inside of 30 seconds, taking a 51-47 lead at the end of three.
Fourth Quarter | Down by four at the start of the fourth quarter, Winthrop quickly scored six straight points to go up 53-51 after a contested layup by
Angel Burgos. The Panthers tied it on the next play only to have Burgos put Winthrop back on top with two free throws at the 6:46 mark. GSU tied it again on a fast-break steal a few plays later but Gasaway's layup at the 4:44 mark broke the deadlock, giving the Eagles a 57-55 lead. The lead would only last for two minutes as GSU scored five quick points to take a 60-57 lead with two minutes remaining. But Winthrop closed the game out with eight straight free throws.
Blessing Okoh hit the final two with nine seconds left to secure the come-from-behind victory.
Statistical Standouts (Team)
- Winthrop moves to 604-896 all-time as a program.
- Winthrop moves to 347-323 all-time at home.
- Winthrop blanked Georgia State in second chance points, 13-0.
- There were a combined 16 ties and 16 lead changes.
- Winthrop held the Panthers to 14% from three-point range in the fourth quarter.
- Winthrop shot 50% from the field.
- Winthrop made nearly all of their free throws (15-16).
- Four Eagles played more than 30 minutes.
- Four Eagles scored in double figures.
- Winthrop has scored 50 or more points and 10 or more assists in five straight games.
- This was Gasaway's fifth double figure game this season in points and sixth double figure game this season in rebounds.
- This was also her third double double game this season.
- Ronaltha Marc now has 100 career points.
- This is her sixth double figure game in points this season.
- Jada Ryce now has 200 rebounds in her career.
- This was her fifth game this season in double figures in points, as well as Paisana.
- Okoh is 12 rebounds away from 200 in her career.
- Angel Burgos is now three points away from 100 career points.
- Leonor Paisana now has 200 career assists and is 12 rebounds away from 12 in her career and eight points away from 400 in her career.
- She is also nine three-pointers away from moving into the Top 10 in school history in career triples.
Statistical Standouts (Individual)
Leonor Paisana (36 min, 7-14 FG, 4-10 3FG, 20 pts)
Ronaltha Marc (35 min, 6-11 FG, 15 pts)
Marissa Gasaway (35 min, 10 rebounds, 10 pts)
Jada Ryce (28 min, 5-6 FT, 10 pts)
Up Next
Winthrop travels to Jacksonville to take on the University of North Florida on Wed, Dec. 20 at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
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