ATLANTA, Ga.

– Troy State sophomore center Thea Herring scored a career-high 25 points, including 15 in the second half, but the Lady Trojans couldn’t withstand a late rally by Georgia State in falling 68-63 at the GSU Sports Arena on Saturday.

The loss drops Troy State to 7-13 overall and 6-7 in Atlantic Sun Conference play. Georgia State improves to 13-7 and 9-4.

40 minutes, keying a late charge by the Lady Panthers that helped them rally from a five-point deficit with nine minutes to go and win their 10th straight in the series.

Troy State led, 53-52, with 4:33 to go, but a 7-0 run by the Lady Panthers pushed them in front for good and helped them maintain a secure hold on third place in the conference standings.

"Our girls played hard and had opportunities today," Troy State head coach Jerry Hester said. "Turnovers once again plagued us in a close game, and that is an area we need to improve. But overall, I thought we played very well against one of the league’s best teams. Hopefully we can take some confidence away from our performance."

Herring came out firing early, scoring 10 of Troy State’s first 15 points to help the Lady Trojans to a 19-14 lead with 10:33 before halftime. The Lady Panthers didn’t waste any time erasing that deficit, however, holding Troy State scoreless over the next six minutes while using an 8-0 run to forge ahead 22-19. GSU led 29-25 at the intermission.

Herring came out firing again in the second half, scoring six of TSU’s first 10 points to push the Lady Trojans back in front. Her layup with 15:11 remaining gave the Lady Trojans a 35-33 lead. The teams battled back and forth from there, with TSU pushing its lead to as much as five on two occasions.

A late run by Georgia State, keyed by 11 straight points from Maddox and Miller, eventually pushed the Lady Panthers back in front for good, 59-58 with 1:47 to play. A 5-0 run by Georgia State all but sealed the final outcome after that.

Chaquita Alexander added 14 points for Troy State, which shot 48 percent for the game (26-of-54) but hit just 6-of-23 from 3-point range and committed 22 turnovers. Georgia State shot 41 percent and hir 16-of-21 from the free throw line. Troy State won the rebounding battle, 33-32.

The Lady Trojans conclude their two-game road swing on Monday with a game at A-Sun foe Campbell. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET in Buies Creek, N.C.