STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern women's basketball team will head to Atlanta to clash with in-state foe Georgia Tech, Sunday, December 9. The game is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Georgia Southern is coming off a recent and decisive 81-66 home victory over USC Upstate (Dec. 1) snapping a three-game skid. The Lady Eagles improved their overall record to 3-5 with the win, while Georgia Tech also enjoyed a recent victory over the same team, defeating the Spartans 92-45 on Thursday (Dec. 6) and improving to 6-1 overall.
Georgia Southern and Georgia Tech will go head-to-head for the first time since 1994, and the first time since 1986 on Tech territory. The Yellow Jackets defeated GSU 79-66 in their last meeting during the ISES Southern Invitational in 1994. But the Lady Eagles claim a 7-3 all-time series lead over the Jackets, having last defeated GT back in 1988 on neutral soil in a close 61-60 decision. The series is tied at two games apiece at Georgia Tech.
Leading the Lady Eagles is senior guard Shawnda Atwood (Pensacola, Fla.) with 11.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. Right next to her is junior teammate Ashley Melson (Newnan, Ga.) with 11.5 points and 4.9 boards who has averaged 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in the last pair of contests. Twelfth-year head coach Rusty Cram improved his all-time record to 170-156 with the recent win over USC Upstate and looks to pick up a win in his first meeting with the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Southern will face a tough Georgia Tech lineup that also includes a pair of Jackets scoring in double-figures. Chioma Nnamaka paces her team with 19.7 points, followed by Janie Mitchell with 13.5 points per game. Mitchell leads the team in rebounds, pulling down 8.5 per game. Fifth-year head coach MaChelle Joseph currently carries a 68-57 record and will meet the Lady Eagles for the first time this weekend.
The game will be called by Georgia Southern Radio Network's Ryan Chambers on Eagle 102.9 FM, WPMX in Statesboro, or on the World Wide Web at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
