SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team played their most complete game of the young season Friday night and was rewarded with a 64-48 win over Savannah State University on the road. It was the first win of the season and first for head coach Kip Drown at Georgia Southern.

The Eagles (1-3) played well for most of the night on both sides of the ball, but more so on offense. The team shot 44.9% (22-49) from the field, including 60.0% (12-20) in the second half, and made 11 three-pointers.

The Eagles also played well on defense for much of the night, forcing the Tigers (1-4) to take shots that were not necessarily open en route to shooting just 29.0% (18-62) from the field. Part of the rough shooting night for the Tigers came from four Georgia Southern blocks, three by senior Briana Jones. Jones' three blocks moved her into sole possession of fourth all-time in program history with 69 career blocks.

Junior Patrice Butler recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and was perfect from three-point range with four, one shy of her career-high of five in a single game. It was the first double-double for an Eagle player this season as four total players finished with double-digit points.

Junior guard Angel McGowan, who recorded her first start of the season after coming back from an injury in the pre-season, led all scorers with 19 points off 7-11 shooting from the field. She had two three-pointers and went 3-for-5 at the charity stripe.

Sophomore Abby Hix got her first career start Friday night and did not disappoint as she eclipsed the century mark (100) for points in a career with her first three-pointer of the game in the first half. She finished the game with 10 points and two treys while Alexis Sams matched Hix's 10 points to round out the double-figure scoring.

For the Tigers, Kenyata Hendrix led the way with 12 points including a game-high three three-pointers. Deyja Brown matched her with three treys for nine points.

The Story
The Eagles got off to the best start of the season despite holding just a 25-23 lead at half time after Sams hit a floating jumper just as time expired in the opening half. But it was in the second half where the Eagles distanced themselves from the Tigers.

Out of the intermission, Sierra Kirkland, McGowan and Hix all hit three-pointers, including two by McGowan, to extend the Eagle lead out to 12 and force the Tigers to call a timeout. Despite the timeout, the Eagles continued to find their tempo and extended the lead out to as many as 20 with 4:06 left in the third quarter.

Down the stretch, Savannah State was able to force a few turnovers to give Georgia Southern fits, but the lead never dipped below 12 the rest of the way.

Quotables from Coach Drown
"I am just really happy for our players because since day-one when I got here in April, they have been so coachable and they have tried to buy into everything we have asked of them," said Drown following the win. "There comes a time when you need to win and get some confidence, and this win couldn't have come at a better time. I thought we had a great week of practice and you want to get rewarded for that.

"This (win) gives us something to build on, and that's the biggest thing. It gives us some confidence as we head home for a game Friday against Jacksonville State. So, I'm just really happy the team got a win and the players have a chance to enjoy that tonight.

"I thought we were very unselfish tonight, I thought we moved the basketball and got good looks. We had some people step up and knock down shots. I thought we got some good looks early in the first quarter but we didn't get them to go down. But there in the third quarter, particularly, we just came out and shot the ball really well and it started with being unselfish with the ball."

Next Up
The Eagles return home to the friendly confines of Hanner Fieldhouse on Friday, Dec. 4 for a 7 PM game against Jacksonville State (2-5). The game will feature free scantrons and blue books for all GSU students, provided by the University Store. Also, if a patron brings a general admission ticket to this coming Saturday's home football game against Georgia State or a season ticket for Eagle football, they will get $3 off admission to Friday night's basketball game. Also, Eagle fans are encouraged to bring an unwrapped, new toy to donate to Toys for Tots.

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.