Lady Eagles Make First Road Trip of the Season Thursday
11/17/2011 2:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball
STATESBORO, Ga. - After a pair of losses to major conference opponents at Hanner Fieldhouse, the Georgia Southern Lady Eagles hit the road for the first time this season. The Lady Eagles travel to Macon to face Atlantic-Sun foe Mercer in a 7 p.m. contest against the in-state rival.
Georgia Southern (0-2) opened the 2011-12 season at home in Hanner Fieldhouse against Pac-12 member Arizona. The Lady Eagles fell 88-46 to the Wildcats but bounced back with an improved second outing against #12 Georgia, 68-49. GSU has one more BCS conference opponent on its schedule and will open conference play on December 1st at Appalachian State.
"It's time to find out if we wasted these first two games or if we learned from it. We competed the last three halves, but now we will found out tomorrow night if these kids are serious about some of these goals they have written up for themselves," said Head Coach Rusty Cram.
The freshmen class has made an early impact on the team. Tashayla Steede (Marietta, Ga.) is tied for the team lead with 8.5 points per game, while Anna Claire Knight (Dublin, Ga.) is just behind her with 8.0 points per game. Both are top options in the team's rotation. Steede cracked the starting lineup against the Lady Bulldogs, while Knight is one of the first options off the bench.
"We said all along we felt pretty good about our incoming freshmen. We felt that all three of them were going to contribute but to what extent was up to them. Two of the three have moved really fast," added Cram. "Anna Claire and Tashayla are producing out on the court right now number wise, and the thing I appreciate about them is that they are blending in with the upperclassmen."
After a 2-12 record on the road last season, the Lady Eagles are hoping for better success away from Hanner Fieldhouse this season. They will find out soon enough with their next five games taking place on the road.
"The road gives you a chance to bond early in the year." Cram added that for them to be successful on the road they need to "forget the stands, the crowds and who is in favor of you and who is against you and just go execute."
Mercer (0-2) is the first road test on the schedule. The Bears opened the season by hosting Auburn and fell at Davidson on Monday, 75-60. Briana Wilson scored 18 points against the Wildcats and is leading the team with 13.5 points per game.
Fans can follow their Eagles at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com or receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics or on Google+ at gplus.to/GSAthletics.
