Women's Basketball | 12/1/2015 11:17:00 AM

Georgia Southern (0-3) at Savannah State (1-3)
Wednesday, Dec. 2 – Tiger Arena (6,000) – 6:00 p.m.
Live Audio | Live Stats
Audio: 91.9 FM the Buzz, GS All-Access (Colin Lacy, play-by-play)

Series: Georgia Southern leads 14-5
Last meeting: 2/17/05, 77-74 L, OT

Probable Starters for Georgia Southern:
#2 Trellanie English-Lurry, G
#5 Alexis Foulks, G/F
#20 Sierra Kirkland, F
#23 Alexis Sams, G
#25 Sierra Butler, F

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

Savannah State Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@SavStateTigers]

QUICK HITTERS
• Wednesday's game at Savannah State will close out a three-game stretch away from the friendly confines of Hanner Fieldhouse for the Eagles. The Eagles will then have three games in a row at home starting with Friday's 7 PM game against Jacksonville State.
• In the game at Georgia, two Eagles hit career milestones. Angel McGowan recorded her 600th career point with a free throw with 40 seconds left in the third quarter and Alexis Sams eclipsed the 300 point mark for her career in the final minute of the second quarter.
• The Eagle's 28 points scored at Georgia were the fewest points scored by a GSU team going back to the 1991-92 season when the Eagles, under the direction of Drema Greer (second in both career wins as well as winning percentage), scored just 24 points in a 67-24 loss at South Carolina on Feb. 3, 1992.
 
CAREER MARK CHASERS
• Abby Hix is 4 points from 100 career points.
• Sierra Butler is 6 rebounds from 100 for her career and 15 points from 100.
• Alexis Sams is 5 assists from 100 career assists.
• Angel McGowan is 8 steals from 100 career steals.
• Sierra Kirkland is 6 games played away from 100 and is 39 rebounds from 20th all-time in program history (493).
 
THE MATCHUP - SSU
• This will be the 20th meeting between Georgia Southern and Savannah State dating back to the 1975-76 season. GSU boasts a 14-5 all-time record over the Tigers.
• The two split their last two meetings during the 2004-05 season. GSU won 86-68 on 11/24/04 in Statesboro and SSU won 77-74 in overtime on 2/17/05 in Savannah.
• Savannah State is 1-1 this season at home including a 101-34 win over Columbia College (S.C.) and a 62-40 loss to Auburn.
• The Tigers have played three consecutive games against Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponents in Auburn, Florida and Mississippi State. They lost all three by scores of 62-40, 99-34 and 92-25.
• The Tigers are led in scoring by junior guard Kenyata Hendrix's 11.8 points and 33.5 minutes per game. She is shooting .429 (18-42) from the field and leads the team in field goals made (18), three-point field goals made (6) and free throws made (5).
• Tiyonda Davis leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game (24 total) and 3.0 blocks per game (12 total).
• As a team, Savannah State is averaging just 50.0 points through the first four games while giving up 71.8 points per game to opponents, including 99 to Florida and 92 to Mississippi State, both on the road.
• The Tigers are shooting .370 from the field while opponents are shooting .394 and have hit on just 47.2% (34-72) of their free throw attempts.
• Through the first four games, SSU has lost the turnover battle with a turnover margin of 7.5 per game (25.8 by SSU, 18.3 by opp.).
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Georgia Southern women's basketball team entered Tuesday's road game at the University of Georgia expecting a tough opponent and the Bulldogs certainly proved that to be true as they stifled the Eagles' offense for much of the night, handing the Eagles a 75-28 loss.
 
The Bulldogs (3-1) registered their 50th-straight home win over non-conference opponent while the Eagles fell to 0-3 on the season behind a 22.2% (12-54) shooting performance.
 
Sisters Patrice Butler and Sierra Butler led the way in scoring for Georgia Southern with six points each. Sierra went 2-for-3 from the field, hitting her lone three-point attempt of the night, and also finished the game with three rebounds while Patrice went 3-for-7 in shooting.
 
Junior point guard Alexis Sams led the team with seven rebounds to go along with two points. The Eagles' pair of freshmen, Rhein Beamon and Ashley Burke, both logged valuable minutes in the contest and each registered their first career collegiate points. Beamon, who played 17 minutes, finished with five points, including one trey, and Burke had a layup to end the night with two points.
 
The Bulldogs, which shot 46.9% (30-64) from the field for the game, were led by two double-double performers in Merritt Hempe and Shacobia Barbee. Hempe had a game-high 20 points coupled with 11 rebounds while Barbee finished the night with 12 points and a game-high 12 boards. Mackenzie Engram was the final Bulldog in double-digit scoring with 15 points which included a 4-for-5 outing from the free throw line.
 
The Bulldogs wasted little time establishing their lead as they got off to a quick start that saw the team race out to a 14-5 lead by the first media timeout, just over five minutes into the game. The Eagles did lead briefly, 5-4 when Sierra Butler hit her three-pointer less than two minutes into the contest off a feed from sophomore guard Trellanie English-Lurry.
 
From there, the Bulldogs never backed down and never allowed the Eagles to get into any form of rhythm or desired tempo. It appeared much of the Georgia defensive strategy keyed in on limiting junior Angel McGowan's touches and keep the Eagles on the perimeter. McGowan was able to reach the 600 point mark for her career despite being one of the focuses of Georgia's defensive scheme.
 
NEXT UP
GSU has a week off during exams following Friday's 7 p.m. home game against Jacksonville State before hosting their final pair of home games for the semester when Charleston Southern and Robert Morris come to town on Monday, Dec. 14 and Thursday, Dec. 17.

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.