Lady Panthers win third straight A-Sun title

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - The tradition of winning championships isn&#39;t very old at Georgia State, but it still means a lot to the Lady Panthers. <br> <br> Evita Rogers had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Georgia State defeated Central Florida 80-63 Saturday to win the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament title for the third straight year. <br> <br> Holly Coates scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds and Patechia Hartman added 15 points and six assists for the Lady Panthers (20-10), who clinched an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament and won their 10th straight game. <br> <br> ``We feel like we&#39;ve established a tradition of winning to where there was no doubt in our minds that we&#39;d make it to the championship game of this tournament. And in my mind, there was no doubt we&#39;d win it,&#39;&#39; Georgia State coach Lea Henry said. ``When you have that kind of confidence going in, it allows you to play through mistakes, play through tough stretches and know you&#39;re going to come out on top.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The Lady Panthers faced a tough stretch in the second half, when what was once a 17-point lead got trimmed to three with less than six minutes remaining. <br> <br> Georgia State used a pair of 10-0 runs to build a 43-29 halftime lead. Hartman had a hand in all 10 points during the first run, making two three-point plays and assisting on two baskets by Rogers. The second run came just before halftime and ended with a 3-pointer from Monica Thomas that made it 43-26. <br> <br> UCF (19-11) got a 3-pointer from freshman Celeste Hudson at the halftime buzzer to cut the deficit to 14. The Golden Knights, playing on their home floor, cut the margin to 58-55 on a putback by Adrienne Billings with 5:38 left, but UCF got no closer. <br> <br> Hudson scored a game-high 26 points and Shayla Smith added 11 for UCF. <br> <br> ``We just let their big people get too many easy shots around the basket,&#39;&#39; UCF coach Gail Striegler said. ``We finally got our defense straight in the second half and made a nice comeback, but Georgia State was too tough for us in the end.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Georgia State made 14 free throws in the final two minutes of the game to seal the win. <br> <br> UCF had won nine of its last 10 games entering the final, but finished 0-2 at home against Georgia State this season.

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