Women?s Hoops to Battle Boston University, Thursday
12/26/2007 5:09:00 AM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern returns to action after a week-long Christmas break to compete at the Virginia Commonwealth University Christmas Tournament in Richmond, Va., Thursday and Friday, Dec. 27 and 28. The Lady Eagles will first clash with Boston University at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the Alltel Pavilion at Siegel Center.
Georgia Southern is coming off a 66-35 victory versus Presbyterian, last week, in the two team's first-ever meeting (Dec. 20). The Lady Eagles improved to 5-6 with the win, its third win in four games, and second consecutive victory. The win marked its fourth-consecutive win at home, maintaining its perfect home record.
BU enters the tournament with a 6-4 overall record after recently falling to Harvard on the road, 72-62 (Dec. 11). The Terriers have already played a Southern Conference team earlier in the season, tipping-off against UNC Greensboro and claiming a 69-42 victory over the Spartans (Nov. 23) at Greensboro.
This is only the second meeting with the Terriers, the first meeting occurring Nov. 18, 2001 at the Boston University Tournament. The Terriers defeated the Lady Eagles 70-55.
Georgia Southern is paced by senior guard Tiffany Brown (Waxhaw, N.C.) with 12.4 points per game and is closely followed by senior guard Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) with 12.0 points per contest and junior guard Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) with 11.1 points per game. In the rebounds category, Atwood leads the team with 5.3 boards per game, while Melson follows with 4.7 per contest. Freshman guard Carolyn Whitney (Duluth, Ga.) dishes out a team-best 3.8 assists per game.
BU's duo Jesyka Burks-Wiley and Kasey Devine pace the team with 14.5 and 12.3 points per game, respectively. Burks-Wiley also pulls down a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game.
Twelfth-year head coach Rusty Cram carries a 172-157 school and overall record. BU head coach Kelly Greenberg ? a 1989 La Salle graduate ? tallies a 138-101 record in her ninth year overall and a 54-47 record in her fourth year at the helm of the Terriers.
Georgia Southern will continue tournament action, Friday (Dec. 28), either taking on host VCU or Morgan State, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
Fans can follow the live stats on-line at the VCU Web site.
