Georgia Southern (9-19, 7-10) vs. Furman (17-11, 11-6)
Date: March 2, 2014 - 2 p.m.
Site: Timmons Arena (3,000 capacity) - Greenville S.C.
Audio: Live on 91.9 FM and GS All-Access
Video: Live on PaladinHD
Web sites: GSEagles.com, FurmanPaladins.com
Coaches: Chris Vozab (17-42, 2nd yr), Jackie Carson (58-61, 4th yr)
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Layup Line
¦ Georgia Southern caps the regular season at Furman Sunday at 2 p.m.
¦ It's the second of two games against the Paladins this season. Furman topped the Eagles 67-62 in Hanner Fieldhouse Dec. 7.Â
¦ The Eagles are tied for seventh in the SoCon standings. A Georgia Southern loss today would give the Eagles the eighth seed in next week's SoCon Tournament. A win today would give the Eagles the seventh seed, and a win coupled with a Samford loss would move the Eagles into sixth.
¦ The Eagles are 2-6 in their last eight and coming off a 73-49 road loss to Wofford Friday night.
¦ Georgia Southern is 5-9 on the road and 4-4 in road league games.
¦
Anna Claire Knight ranks third in the SoCon and leads GSU in scoring at 15.8 points a game. The junior has scored in double figures in 23 contests and is just the third Eagle to score 400 points in a season since 1998-99, joining Sharon Mitchell (1998-99) and Tiffany Brown (2006-07).
¦
MiMi DuBose, who is averaging 11.3 points a contest, hit four 3-pointers at App Jan. 27 to become the school's career leader in triples. DuBose scored 16 points at Chattanooga Jan. 4 to top the 1,000-point mark for her career. She played in her 100th career contest vs. Davidson Jan. 18.
¦ Senior
Danielle Spencer corralled four rebounds vs. Chattanooga Feb. 3 to reach 500 for her career. She is the 18th Eagle in program history to reach the milestone.
¦ Furman is riding a four-game win streak and coming off a 69-62 home win over Davidson Friday night.
¦ Holli Wilkins leads the Paladins in scoring with 15.1 points a game and has led the team in each of the last four contests.
¦ Brittany Hodges averages 13 points and 9.1 rebounds a game.
¦ The Paladins are 10-2 at home and 7-1 in home league games.
Series History
¦ Georgia Southern leads the all-time series, which began in 1986, 28-24, but Furman has won the last seven.
¦ The Eagles preceded that stretch with a six-game win streak in the series from 2008-10.
¦ The Paladins have swept the season series in each of the last three campaigns.
¦ The Eagles are 12-12 against Furman on the road and 6-9 in Timmons Arena.
¦ Last meeting (12/7/13): Brittany Hodges and Holli Wilkins each scored 18 points, and Furman overcame a 12-point early second-half deficit to post a 67-62 win over Georgia Southern in Hanner Fieldhouse.
¦ Hodges was 7-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line for the Paladins, while Brigid Morrissey recorded 15 points and six rebounds. Sarah Durdaller finished with a team-high 12 boards.
¦ The Eagles led 48-36 following a conventional 3-point play by Knight 5:16 into the second half. Furman chipped away over time and took its first lead of the stanza on a Morrissey triple from the top of the key with 7:03 to go.
¦ Georgia Southern tied the score at 55-55 on its next possession, but Hodges scored four points in a 6-0 Furman run. The Eagles cut the lead to 64-62 with a DuBose layup with 3:10 to play, and got three defensive stops but could not score the equalizer.
¦ Morrissey hit 1-of-2  from the free-throw line with 28 seconds left to make the score 65-62, and the Eagles had two chances inside on their next possession but could not get heavily-contested shots to go down. Wilkins grabbed the rebound, was fouled and hit two free throws to seal the win.
¦ Last meeting in Timmons Arena (2/25/13): Furman forwards Sarah Durdaller,
Patrice Butler and Brittany Hodges combined for 34 points and 26 rebounds to lead the Paladins to a 57-48 win.
¦
Meredyth Frye had 15 points for the Eagles and added five rebounds, while DuBose scored 13. Knight collected seven points and eight rebounds, and
Ronnesha Smith logged five points and six boards.
¦ Durdaller finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds for Furman, and Butler had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Hodges scored eight points, and Teshia Griswold posted 12 points and five rebounds.
¦ The Eagles couldn't get anything going offensively in the first half as they hit 4-of-18 from the floor and logged 10 turnovers. A 6-of-8 performance at the free-throw line and some stout defense, which forced 13 Paladin turnovers and gave up just 31 percent from the field, kept them in the game.
¦ After Eagle forward
Sierra Kirkland hit a free throw to make the score 13-12 in favor of the Paladins, Furman outscored GSU 11-4 for the final 7:23 of the half and went into the locker room with a 24-16 lead. Butler scored nine of her 11 first-half points during the run.
¦ Consecutive buckets by Knight trimmed the lead to four early in the second half, but Furman went on a 15-4 run, behind nine points from Durdaller, to open a 15-point cushion midway through the period. The Eagles whittled the margin to nine on a 3-pointer by
Alexis Sams with 1:37 to play and forced a turnover to get the ball back.
¦ Frye missed a jumper and Kirkland got the rebound but missed the putback try. GSU fouled Butler, who missed a 1-and-1 free-throw attempt with 55 seconds left, but the Eagles turned it over on their trip down the floor.
¦ Georgia Southern wound up shooting 27 percent for the game, while Furman shot 35 percent. The Paladins held a 44-32 advantage on the boards and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
Quick Hitters
¦
Danielle Spencer has two double-doubles this season. The senior had 12 points and 12 rebounds against Jacksonville State (11/16) and 12 points and 17 rebounds at Jacksonville (11/24).
¦ Spencer played in her 100th career game at Chattanooga (1/4).
¦
Lacie Dowling tied the school record with eight 3-pointers against Detroit (11/30) and scored a career-high 26 points in the game. She shares the record with Allie Rousseau, who notched eight triples vs. Appalachian State Feb. 8, 2000. The performance helped Dowling earn all-tournament honors at the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament.
¦ Dowling has played in every game this season and started the last 26. She tallied a career-high seven assists at Western Carolina Jan. 25.
¦
Anna Claire Knight is 45 points away from 1,000 and three rebounds away from 400 for her career. She has two career double-doubles and recorded the first triple-double in program history and the 11th in the country this season with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists at Samford Jan. 6.
¦ Sophomore
Briana Jones, who sat out last season after transferring from James Madison, has four double-doubles in her first campaign playing for the Eagles. She has started 26 games.
¦ Senior
Jordi Cook played in her 100th career game at Western Carolina Jan. 25. She was one of three Eagles to play in all 31 games in 2012-13.
¦
Sierra Kirkland scored a career high 12 points at Appalachian State (1/27). The sophomore has played in every game in her career.
¦
MiMi DuBose had a streak of 87 straight games and 83 consecutive starts come to an end at UNCG Feb. 10.
¦ Five Eagles scored in double figures at Appalachian State Jan. 27. It's the first time since early in the 2008-09 season that GSU placed five players in double figures.
¦ The Eagles' 90 points at Davidson (2/15) are the most they have scored against a Division I opponent since a 97-95 overtime loss to Western Carolina in the 2005 SoCon Tourney championship game.
¦ The Eagles improved to 29-9 in home openers with their 63-50 win over Jacksonville State Nov. 16.
¦ For the first time in four seasons, Georgia Southern opened conference play at home.
¦ Since the 2010-11 season, Georgia Southern has five losses by one point and 14 losses by five points or less.
¦ Georgia Southern dropped to 23-18 in season openers after falling to Auburn 69-59 Nov. 9.
¦ With their loss at No. 7 Kentucky Nov. 13, the Eagles fell to 0-14 against ranked opponents since the 2000-01 season.
Next Up
¦ The Eagles travel to the SoCon Tournament in Asheville next weekend.
