ALBANY, Ga. -- The Georgia Southwestern women's basketball team picked up right where they left off with a dominating 65-53 performance in their season-opening win against Albany St. Defensively, the Lady Hurricanes forced 27 turnovers, including 12 steals on their way to victory.

Freshmen Daelyn Craig, Jaleah Storr and Kayla Grant picked up starts for the Lady Hurricanes in their debut game with each getting over 20 minutes of playing time. 

How It Happened: True freshman Craig opened GSW's 2020-2021 season with two quick layups for her first career points as a Lady Hurricane as GSW opened with a 4-3 lead. The Golden Rams quickly took the lead but Storr exchanged three's to tie the game, 7-7. Back-to-back three's by Jamesha Samuel opened up a 18-0 run for the Lady Hurricanes who took a commanding 25-9 lead going into the second quarter.   

Albany St. opened the second with a quick 10-4 run to cut the lead by 10 points midway through the half. After leading in the first quarter, GSW struggled to rebound and put points on the board as Albany St. took advantage. After a three-minute scoring drought, Yasmin Perez drained one from deep as time expired to expand the lead. With 1:31 left in the first half, the Golden Rams were able to drain three three's to cut the score, with a halftime score of 36-32, GSW.

Within the opening minute of the third quarter, ASU cut the lead down to three, 38-35, but an 8-0 run that took over five minutes kept GSW ahead. They held a strong 53-42 lead going into the final 10. Craig drained her only three of the night to open the fourth quarter, as the Golden Rams responded with a three of their own. In the low scoring fourth quarter, GSW stayed ahead to take the 65-53 opening day victory. 

After a strong first half, GSW ended the day shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from behind-the-arc. The Lady Hurricanes won the 45-39 rebound battle but only had three assists at the end of the game while forcing 27 turnovers. From the free throw line, the Golden Rams won the battle, shooting 43.5 percent while the Lady Hurricanes only shot 40 percent.  

Who Stood Out: Samuel ended the game going 4-of-6 from behind the arc, finishing with 19 bench points. Craig finished with 13 points, five steals and four rebounds while Lex Chatman had 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. 

Former GSW player Kierra York led ASU with 15 points and seven rebounds, followed by Shelby Ricks and Chelsea Hill, who had 13 and 10 points, respectively. 

Up Next: The Lady Hurricanes will open the Storm Dome and host Flagler in a non-conference game for their home opener on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m.