#articleRelated { display: none !important; } Cougar Erica Irick scored a career-high 17 points but it would not be enough as three different Eagles scored in double figures to lead Georgia Southern past the College of Charleston, 70-52, in women's basketball action this evening infront of 844 fans at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Ga.

The Eagles (10-8, 7-5 SoCon) jumped out to the early 7-4 lead before the Cougars (7-9, 4-6 SoCon) put together a 5-0 run, for their first lead of the game. Georgia Southern answered with an 18-2 run sparked by seven points from Atwood. CofC cut the deficit to seven on a 7-0 spurt, but a buzzer beater by Fallon Lee gave the Eagles the 34-22 advantage at the break.

The Eagles shot 37.1 percent (13-of-35) from the floor in the opening half, compared to Charleston's 28.0 (7-of-25). Georgia Southern forced 10 Cougar turnovers, resulting in 12 Eagle points. The Eagles only turned the ball over five times in the half. Atwood led all scorers with nine points and four rebounds. Georgia Southern, who was losing the battle of the boards 11-4 with 12:17 to play in the half, battled back and only trailed 21-20 at the break.

The second half opened with CofC's Erica Irick scoring seven unanswered points, trimming the Eagle lead to six before Georgia Southern responded with a 8-0 run. The Eagles led by as many as 28 with under five minutes to play, at 70-42, thanks to a 14-0 spurt. The Cougars held Georgia Southern scoreless in the final 4:12 of the game, scoring ten points for the final margin of 70-52. Georgia Southern held Charleston's leading scorer, Patrice Bryant scoreless for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The 18-point win is the largest margin of victory over the Cougars since the 2001 season.

Charleston's Irick led all scorers with a career-high 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Atwood led the Eagles with 13, tying her season-high. Tiffany Brown and Nicole Newton each added ten points while Dana Benemon grabbed a team-high seven boards. Brown also swiped a career-high five steals. Lee DuBose was a point shy of double digits, as she finished with nine points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field.

Georgia Southern's 13 turnovers ties a season-low, while the Eagles 14 steals is a season-high. After struggling in the first half, the Eagles managed to win the battle of the boards, 44-42.

The Eagles return to the road on Saturday, Jan. 29 as they travel to Davidson, N.C. to face off against the Wildcats. Tip-off in Davidson is set for 2:00 p.m. College of Charleston will travel to Appalachian State on Thursday, Jan. 27.