Women's Basketball Returns to Action at Hatter Classic
12/17/2012 3:29:42 PM | Women's Basketball
Georgia Southern (1-5) at the Hatter Classic
Date: Dec. 18-19, 2012
Site: Edmunds Center (4,000 capacity) - DeLand, Fla.
Audio: Gabriel Quintero calls the action on GSEagles.com and 91.9 FM
Video: Live on HatterVision at GoHatters.com
Web sites: GSEagles.com, GoHatters.com, B-CUAthletics.com
Coach: Chris Vozab (1-5, 1st season)
VIDEO: Chris Vozab">Preview interview with Coach Chris Vozab
Full game notes (PDF) // Live Stats (both games) // Live Video (Stetson game only)
Layup Line
¦ Georgia Southern travels to DeLand, Fla., for the Hatter Classic at Stetson.
¦ GSU will take on host Stetson Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. and meet Bethune-Cookman Dec. 19 at 3 p.m.
¦ The Eagles have had a 10-day layoff for exams; their last contest was a 48-44 home setback to Mercer Dec. 7.
¦ The tournament begins a six-game road trip for the Eagles.
¦ GSU is in the midst of a stretch where the Eagles play 10 of 11 away from home.
¦ Meredyth Frye has led the Eagles in scoring and rebounding in each of the last two seasons. The senior is 183 points away from the 1,000 mark for her career.
¦ MiMi DuBose is leading the team in scoring this season at 14.7 points a game. The junior is two 3-pointers away from 100 for her career.
¦ DuBose has led the Eagles in scoring in four contests this season and passed the 500-point mark for her career with 21 in a win over Kent State.
¦ Georgia Southern has lost its last three contests.
¦ The Eagles were picked ninth in the Southern Conference Preseason Coaches and Media Polls.
¦ Stetson enters the game with a 5-4 record and has won four of its last five contests.
¦ The Hatters are coming off a 78-66 win at Florida Atlantic Saturday.
¦ The Hatters were picked to win the Atlantic Sun in the Coaches' poll.
¦ Bethune-Cookman enters the tournament with a 3-5 record and will face UNC Asheville in the Hatter Classic Tuesday.
¦ The Lady Wildcats are coming off an 88-46 home win over Edward Waters Dec. 11.
¦ Bethune-Cookman was picked to finish eighth in the MEAC in the league's Preseason Coaches Poll.
Series History
¦ Georgia Southern leads the all-time series against Stetson 22-10 and had won four straight before last season's 61-51 home loss to the Hatters.
¦ The series began with an 83-57 Eagle win in 1980, and GSU won the first five contests.
¦ The teams competed against each other as members of the New South Women's Athletic Conference and then Trans America Athletic Conference until Georgia Southern joined the Southern Conference in 1992.
¦ The Eagles have won four in a row against the Hatters on the road.
¦ MiMi DuBose led the Eagles with 16 points in last year's meeting, and Meredyth Frye collected 14 points and 10 rebounds.
¦ Victoria McGowan led Stetson with 19 points and seven boards, while Shanasa Sanders collected 14 points and four assists.
¦ Georgia Southern and Bethune-Cookman have met just twice with the last contest coming in Hanner Fieldhouse in 1992.
¦ The Lady Wildcats won the first meeting 57-56 at home in 1991 and topped GSU 80-73 the following season.
Quick Hitters
¦ The Eagles have tallied double-digit steals in three of the last four contests.
¦ The Eagles opened SoCon play at Davidson Dec. 1. It's the fourth straight season GSU has opened league play on the road.
¦ The Eagles' 13 steals at Georgia State were the most since posting 17 against Wofford Jan. 24, 2011.
¦ GSU's 71 points against Kent State were the most the Eagles have scored against a Division I opponent since a 72-49 win over Jacksonville State Nov. 26, 2011.
¦ The Eagles' 24-point margin of victory over the Golden Flashes was their most over a Division I opponent since topping Mercer 76-45 Dec. 11, 2009.
¦ Meredyth Frye has led the Eagles in scoring and rebounding in each of the last two seasons, becoming the first Eagle since Tiffany Brown to lead the team in scoring in back-to-back seasons (2006-08).
Last Time Out
¦ For the second consecutive season, the women's basketball game between Georgia Southern and Mercer went down to the wire, but this time, the Bears pulled out the 48-44 victory behind a career-high 29 points from Precious Bridges Dec. 7, in Hanner Fieldhouse.
¦ Bridges scored nine of the Bears' last 10 points to hold off the Eagles and finished the game 12-of-31 shooting from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
¦ With the shot clock winding down and the Bears clinging to a 42-40 lead, Bridges buried a 3-pointer from the wing with under a minute left in the game. Eagle guard Anna Claire Knight drove to the basket, hit a runner and was fouled for a 3-point play, but Bridges hit an elbow jumper with a hand in her face with 24 seconds remaining to extend the margin back to four.
¦ Knight missed a layup for the Eagles but got her own rebound and was fouled. The sophomore made 1-of-2 from the line, and the Eagles, trailing by three, fouled Sharmesia Smith with 10 seconds left. Smith sank the first end of the one-and-one to seal the victory.
¦ MiMi DuBose scored 18 points to lead Georgia Southern, and Danielle Spencer scored a career-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds. Knight finished with 10 points and five boards.
¦ The Bears used an 11-4 run over a stretch of 7:07 in the second half to turn a three-point deficit into a 40-36 cushion with 3:28 left in the game. Bridges scored four points during the run, and Smith netted three.
The 2012-13 Schedule
¦ Seven games against teams that finished the 2011-12 season with RPIs in the top-100 highlight the Georgia Southern women's basketball schedule.
¦ A total of seven squads on the schedule played in the NCAA Tournament or WNIT a season ago. Defending Southern Conference champion Samford played in the "Big Dance," while Florida Atlantic, Stetson and James Madison were in the WNIT along with SoCon members Chattanooga, Appalachian State and Davidson.
¦ James Madison (29) and league opponents Chattanooga (62), Appalachian State (63) and Davidson (88) all finished with NCAA RPIs in the top-100.
