Women's Basketball | 11/24/2015 9:00:00 AM

Georgia Southern (0-2) at Georgia (2-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 24 – Stegeman Coliseum (10,523 capacity) – 7:00 p.m.
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
Audio: 91.9 FM the Buzz, GS All-Access (Colin Lacy, play-by-play)
Series: Georgia Leads 23-9
Last meeting: 11/25/14, L, 93-52
Probable Starters for Georgia Southern:
#2 Trellanie English-Lurry, G
#5 Alexis Foulks, G/F
#20 Sierra Kirkland, F
#23 Alexis Sams, G
#35 Patrice Butler, F/C

Georgia Southern Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Stats] [@GSAthletics_WBB] [Game Notes (PDF)]

Georgia Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Stats (PDF)]

QUICK HITTERS
• In Friday night's game at Mercer, the Eagles continued to set new career marks as three players for Georgia Southern set or tied nine personal career marks.
•  Junior guard Angel McGowan is one point away from eclipsing the 600 mark for her career.
• Tuesday's game against Georgia is the second of a three-game road swing through the Peach State as Georgia Southern takes on three non-conference, in-state foes. Those foes include Mercer (11/20/15), Georgia (11/24/15) and Savannah State (12/2/15).
 
THE MATCHUP
• Tuesday's game will feature two first-year head coaches as Georgia's head coach, Joni Taylor, took over the Bulldogs' program after four years as an assistant. The Eagles' Kip Drown will be playing the Bulldogs for the first time after he took the reins of the Eagles' program prior to the start of the 2015-16 season.
• Georgia leads the overall 32-game series with a record of 23-9.
• Last season, Georgia won 93-52 in Athens and holds a 12-3 record over the Eagles in Athens.
• Georgia has won the last 20 games in the series
• The game will be available on the SEC Network +, giving the Eagles a chance to play on a national media outlet for the second straight game.
• The game will be the second-straight game against an in-state opponent for both programs. Georgia most recently played Georgia Tech at home while Georgia Southern is coming off a loss at Mercer.
 
SCOUTING GEORGIA
• Georgia enters Tuesday's game with a 2-1 record on the young season with wins over Stetson and Georgia Tech and a loss at #23 Michigan State.
• Georgia is led by first-year head coach Joni Taylor who boasts an overall record of 2-1.
• The Bulldogs return four starters fromm last season's 19-12 team. They also return 10 letterwinners and brought in just three newcomers.
• Through three games, Georgia is led in scoring by Tiara Griffin's 16.0 and Merritt Hempe's 15.0 points per game. Shacobia Barbee is averaging a double-double with 10.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game and Mackenzie Engram is averaging 9.3 points and 6.7 boards.
 
LAST TIME OUT
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 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%).
 
NEXT UP
GSU has a week off before heading down to Savannah to take on the Tigers of Savannah State on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

FACING THE BEST
• The Eagle women will start the season off with nine out of conference games including marquee games against three teams that played in post-season tournaments. Those opponents include the Mercer Bears which went 20-15 and made an appearance in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) Tournament, Savannah State which went 21-11 with an appearance in the NCAA Women's Basketball Division I Tournament, and Stetson which went 23-8 with a trip to the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
• Other marquee out of conference games include a trip to Athens to face the Lady Bulldogs and home contests against Robert Morris and Charleston Southern. The Eagles will also face off against Jacksonville State at home and Bethune-Cookman in DeLand, Fla. after opening the season at home against Lipscomb for the second straight year this coming Sunday.

Season Tickets
• Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GSEagles.com/tickets. Season ticket options are available for both general admission and reserved seating. Fans can enjoy chair-back seats in the reserved sections for $90 a season ticket for either men's or women's basketball. Alternatively, general admission season tickets are $65 and are located behind the baskets on bleachers. A combo package is also available for $120 and includes both men's and women's basketball contests.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.