STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern women's basketball team continues its non-conference schedule as it entertains Jacksonville State in its home opener, Tuesday (Nov. 20) at 7 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Lady Eagles and the Gamecocks both enter the contest with a 1-2, early season record after dropping non-conference contests last week. Georgia Southern fell to a sharpshooting Georgia in Athens (Nov. 13), while Jacksonville State was defeated by Furman (Nov. 17) in Jacksonville, Ala.
Jacksonville State leads the all-time series 4-1, having last defeated the Lady Eagles at Pete Mathews Coliseum (Nov. 11, 2006) by an 84-77 decision. Georgia Southern's lone victory over the Gamecocks occurred in Statesboro in 1995 when the Lady Eagles claimed an 87-69 advantage. Tuesday's game will be only the second meeting between the two schools in Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Lady Eagles are led by senior guard Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) with 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Atwood garnered her fourth-career double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) to help lead the Lady Eagles to a 67-51 victory at Stetson (Nov. 11). Following Atwood is sophomore forward Jessica Geiger (Stone Mountain, Ga.) with 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest.
Jacksonville State is paced by Eren McMichael with 16.7 points per game. She is followed by Jolie Efezokhae with 14.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Cierra Duhart also averages 7.3 rebounds per contest for the Gamecocks.
Twelfth-year head coach Rusty Cram enters the contest with a 168-153 overall record, while second-year Jacksonville State head coach Becky Geyer claims a 237-131 overall slate.
Fans can watch the video webcast via Eagle Vision at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com. GSU Radio Network's Ryan Chambers will call the play-by-play on Eagle 102.9 FM, WPMX Statesboro.
