Terren Ward, Coach Anita Howard reflect on Georgia Southern's crazy comeback 'going viral'

By any measure, Terren Ward is having a pretty good week. The Georgia Southern women's basketball star was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday after her incredible performance the week prior.

It was her fourth time in nine weeks winning the award for the conference this season. Georgia Southern (12-3, 2-1 in Sun Belt) beat ULM, 69-66, thanks to five points scored by Ward in the final five seconds.

She made the game-tying layup before stealing the ensuing ULM pass with less than two seconds left. It was then when Ward heaved her buzzer-beating three-pointer that sent GS fans inside Hanner Fieldhouse into a frenzied celebration.

“I wasn’t expecting to steal the ball,” Ward said during a recent phone call with Connect Savannah. “I was yelling, telling [teammates to] ‘get back!’ Then I just ran once I saw the ball in the air. I never expected it to go in."

A product of Wayne County High School and native of Jesup, Ward admitted she isn’t exactly experienced when it comes to making game-winning shots from mid-court. "Maybe two," she guesses.

That includes practices, drills, and games. She won't ever forget her third time making one.

"It's funny because I'm not really good at those so I never practice them or try them. I'm glad it went in."

The shot was dubbed the No. 1 play on Saturday's "Sportscenter Top-10" segment on ESPN. The moment it flashed on the screen, it brought national attention from other media outlets just learning of the play. And, according to Ward, she received more calls and texts after the segment aired than she did in the locker room after the initial win.

"I had to turn it off because it was just too much," Ward said with a laugh. "I don't even remember how many [texts] I got, but I know it was more than a hundred and it happened so fast."


Ward's heroics served as a fitting finale for Georgia Southern's unbelievable comeback. Trailing 65-59 with just 72 seconds left in the fourth quarter, fifth-year head coach Anita Howard knew it was now-or-never if her Eagles hoped to keep their recent winning ways alive.

"When [Ward] tied it up we started celebrating. I think it may have led to [ULM] throwing it in quick," Howard, a graduate of Beach High School in Savannah, said. "We got that deflection and Terren was able to pick it up. It was like it fell into her hands. She shot it up there right away. A Hail Mary that went in. It was March Madness in January. It has to be the craziest finish I've ever seen."

And what about the coach's phone?

"I had 97 text messages and I don't know how many social media things but it was pretty intense right away," Howard said of the attention. "It was crazy. I've got a lot of responding to do."

Conventional wisdom suggested a six-point deficit is too wide a margin to make up with only 72 seconds remaining in the contest. The advanced analytics suggested a comeback for Georgia Southern was on the verge of becoming literally impossible, at least according to "Win Probability" metric, a number showing a team's chances of winning at any precise moment.

When told that ULM had a 99.2 percent chance of winning, Howard admitted "that's crazy."

"That's why I tell our players to keep playing hard because sometimes you can't believe everything you read. Just go with the flow, stay in the game and always keep playing."

The Eagles will keep playing on Thursday, Jan. 11 in Statesboro versus rival App State. Tip time is 6pm at Hanner Fieldhouse.