Women's Basketball | 12/9/2016 10:12:00 AM

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STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team hits the road for the final time in 2016 on Monday, traveling to Charleston, S.C., to take on the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern. The two teams will tangle inside the Buc Dome at 7 p.m.

MONDAY GAME SNAPSHOT
Georgia Southern vs. Charleston Southern
Monday, Dec. 12   |  7:00 p.m. EST   |   The Buc Dome (Charleston, S.C.)
Live Stats   |   Live Audio (GS Sports Network)   |   Live Video (Big South Network)

SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS (Twitter - @CSUBucsWBB)
Georgia Southern and Charleston Southern have squared off on the hardwood 14 times dating back to the 1975-76 season when the Buccaneers were known as Baptist College. The Eagles own an all-time record of 13-1 over the Bucs with the lone blemish coming on Dec. 1, 2001, in Charleston. In the Holy City, GS is 3-1 against the Bucs. The Eagles have won the last two meetings, both in Statesboro. Last season, Georgia Southern defeated CSU 64-51 to cap a three-game winning streak on Dec. 14, 2015.

Charleston Southern is coached by fifth-year head coach Fred Applin. Applin, who was also the head coach for two years at Hampton University from 1995-97, has served as an assistant coach at East Carolina, Washington, Wake Forest (associate head coach), Texas and North Carolina. He owns a 37-86 record while at CSU and an overall record of 57-121.

This season, the Buccaneers are 4-2 with wins over Southern Wesleyan, Paine, Lipscomb and South Carolina State. The Bucs opened the season with an 88-38 loss at West Virginia and also fell 93-77 at North Carolina. At home, CSU is 3-0 on the year. Overall, the Bucs are averaging 67.3 points and 39.8 rebounds per game while shooting 35.9% (148-412) from the field. CSU's competition has averaged 69.8 points and 45.3 boards per game while shooting 40.3% (143-355) from the field.

Charleston Southern is led in scoring by Alyssa Mann, Ke'Asia Jackson and Rachel Burns. Mann averages 15.2 points, 4.5 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game and shoots 35.2% (31-88). Behind Mann, Jackson averages 12.0 points while Burns chips in 11.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, second on the team to Elyse Kiploks' 7.3 boards per contest.

2016-17 CSU Roster
2016-17 CSU Schedule
2016-17 CSU Statistics

LAST TIME OUT
The Georgia Southern women's basketball team entered last Thursday night's game at Savannah State looking for a way to stop a five-game losing skid after starting the season with a pair of home wins. Junior Sierra Butler and a balanced offensive attack helped spur the Eagles to a five-point, 50-45 road win over Savannah State inside Tiger Arena.

Butler, whose previous career-high for points was 13 in a game against Troy last season, led all scorers with 20 points off 6-for-13 (.462) shooting and made a career-high three three-pointers. The junior forward/center also corralled in a team-best nine rebounds in 26 minutes of work and made five of her seven free throw attempts (.714).

Behind Butler, the Eagles received eight points off the bench from Alexis Foulks and seven from senior Patrice Butler. Patrice did most of her damage at the charity stripe, where she went 4-for-4. Amira Atwater, Alexis Brown and Jessica Marcus all scored three points while Nakol Franks, Alexis Sams and Hailey Dias-Allen each chipped in two points.

Savannah State was led by Georgia State graduate transfer Lauren Moss's double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Moss went 7-for-23 (.304) from the field. As a team, the Tigers shot just 24.0% (18-75) from the field, including a dismal 12.5% (2-16) in the second quarter and 16.7% (3-14) from long-range.

Savannah State out-rebounded Georgia Southern 57-42 in the game, including 30 off the offensive glass. However, 17 SSU turnovers and many missed lay-ups hampered the Tigers' efforts.

YEAR TWO FOR DROWN AND COMPANY
When Kip Drown took over the reins of the Georgia Southern women's basketball program over a year ago, he knew the rebuild would be a process that required him, his staff and the players to be patient. After the first year, the Eagles are looking to take the next step in building a successful program and they will have plenty of experience to draw from both on the coaching side as well as on the court.

Despite being chosen 10^th in the Preseason Sun Belt Conference Coaches' Poll, the team isn't looking to just roll over. The Eagles return plenty of talent and are a year older with more experience overall while also adding key pieces at every position. Last season, the Eagles had plenty of depth at certain positions, but were inexperienced at others. With at least three players at every position this year, and some players cross-trained at multiple positions, GS is prepared to take the next step.

MCGOWAN AND BUTLER EARN PRESEASON ALL-SUN BELT HONORS
Georgia Southern women's basketball student-athletes Angel McGowan and Patrice Butler earned Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference honors as voted on by the league's coaches prior to the season. McGowan, a senior guard from Greenville, S.C., earned first team honors and Butler, a senior forward/center from Norcross, Ga., was named to the third team.

NEXT UP
Georgia Southern will next return home to close out the non-conference portion of the 2016-17 campaign and open Sun Belt Conference play with five home games in a row. Those games will include hosting UCF on Saturday, Dec. 17, hosting Savannah State on Thursday, Dec. 22, and hosting Georgia State on Saturday, Dec. 31 to close out the 2016 portion of the 2016-17 campaign. The stretch of five home games will be the longest home stand of the year for the Eagles.


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