Following a two-week-long absence to open 2021, Georgia State’s women’s basketball squad returned, and in dominant fashion.
The team swept Coastal Carolina, winning both games, 73-55 and 65-55, earlier this month.
With this being the second COVID-19 outbreak among the team — the first came back on Dec. 30 — head coach Gene Hill talked about precautionary measures the team will take to prevent another outbreak.
“We are stressing the importance of social distancing whenever possible to make contact tracing easier if there is a positive test,” Hill said.
Hill also noted that the team would keep following their fantastic athletic training staff protocols and keep testing three times a week. Before the pause, Hill’s women held a 4-3 record, including four wins in their last six games.
Those wins featured an exciting overtime victory against Tennessee State, blowout victories against Furman and Life University and a hard-fought win against Western Carolina.
In both games, redshirt sophomore guard Taniyah Worth led the way offensively with 17 points in the first game and 16 points in the second. On the defensive end, junior forward Taylor Hosendove held it down with seven total steals.
The Panthers’ bench also provided a much-needed spark with a combined 53 points between both games, with sophomore guard Moriah Taylor hitting a total of eight threes off the bench.
Hill said he is extremely proud of how his team handled these tough couple of weeks and how they competed out on the court against a tough Coastal Carolina team.
“It can be difficult to come back after a lengthy break like we had, but the team responded well and earned two challenging road wins,” Hill said.
With conference play heating up, Hill has high expectations for this young Panthers team for the rest of the season.
“If we continue to work hard in practice and execute well in games, I know we can compete with the best in the conference,” Hill said.
The team has a lot of potential, as they are currently sitting second in the Sun Belt behind Arkansas State. Their next set of games will come on Thursday when they travel to Mobile, Alabama, to take on the South Alabama Jaguars in a two-game series on back-to-back afternoons.
