MACON, Ga. – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team fell 62-50 Friday night on the road at Mercer University after being building up as much as a five point lead twice in the third quarter. Despite strong play from the young Eagles to start the second half, the Bears were able to make enough adjustments to counter the Eagles' good shooting down the stretch to remain perfect on the season.

Guards Trellanie English-Lurry and Angel McGowan led the scoring drive for the Eagles (0-2) with 11 points each. English-Lurry converted four of her seven shots from the field and had a game-high three three-pointers while McGowan returned to action for the first time this season and had a team-high-tying three assists in 30 minutes of work.
For the Bears (3-0), sophomore Kahlia Lawrence, the 2015 SoCon Freshman of the Year and reining SoCon Player of the Week, led all scorers with 16 points as she went 8-17 from the field. Linnea Rosendal finished the contest with 11 points while Amanda Thompson went 4-for-6 from the field to end the game with 10 points and round out the double-digit scoring.

The Story
The Eagles led briefly in the first half 21-20, but Mercer was able to come back to retake the lead, stretching things out to a 30-26 advantage by halftime.
Both teams came out shooting well in the opening minutes of the second half, but GSU was able to maintain it throughout most of the third quarter, taking the lead with 6:10 left in the period when Patrice Butler hit a layup off a feed from McGowan.

With 3:04 left in the third quarter, Kip Drown's squad had built up their second five point lead when Sierra Butler hit a jumper, but Mercer switched up its defensive scheme in the closing minutes of the period, going from a zone to man-to-man, and was able to hit enough open shots to end the quarter on a 7-0 run.

As the fourth quarter progressed, the Bears were able to convert 46.2% (6-13) of their shots and forced a turnover while Georgia Southern hit just two of its eight shots (25.0%).

Quotables from Coach Drown
"I felt like the game got away from us there in the third quarter when they made the switch to (man-to-man defense)," said first-year head coach Kip Drown. "We did not make the adjustment well, we lost a little of our composure and started to not get good looks and that resulted in us turning the ball over. That, coupled with them getting several fast breaks, was the difference tonight.

"We have been out-rebounded in the first two games, but I feel like rebounding could be a strength for this team. We also aren't getting to the foul line as much as the other teams we've played. Part of that is because we have seen so much zone (defense) here early and that tends to keep you on the perimeter more. But, when (Mercer) did go man we didn't make the adjustment to attack and take advantage of it so we have to work on that.

"We prepared well this week. I thought we had one of the best weeks of practice so far this season, we just have to be able to come out and execute during the games. We're looking forward to the opportunity each week to play good basketball teams, and we're going to go up to Athens on Tuesday and compete and hope to get better. As we get closer to Sun Belt Conference play coming up in late December these games will have helped us get better."

Next Up
The Georgia Southern women's basketball team will next travel to Athens to take on the University of Georgia on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The Eagles and Lady Bulldogs will tip off at 7 p.m. with the game airing on the SEC Network.

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