DELAND, Fla. – The Georgia Southern women's basketball team got off to a slow start in the first quarter of the 28^th Hatter Classic and were never able to fully dig out of the hole, ultimately falling 79-57 to the host of the tournament, Stetson University in the tournament's first game.

The Eagles (3-5) had little answer for Stetson's Brianti Saunders who accounted for 40 of the Hatters' 79 points, setting a school record for most points scored in a single game in the process. Saunders, who also matched the Hatter Classic individual points scored record set in 1988, went 12-for-16 from the field including 4-for-6 from three-point range and added eight rebounds in 35 minutes of work.

For Georgia Southern, Angel McGowan led the way with 15 points off 6-for-10 shooting, including knocking down two treys and had a game-high four steals. Sophomore guard Trellanie English-Lurry came off the bench to contribute 10 points in 21 minutes of work. Sierra Butler led the Eagles with five rebounds while sister Patrice Butler, English-Lurry and Alexis Foulks all added four boards.

For Stetson (8-3), Breana Bey finished with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Hatters shot 49.1% (28-53) from the field as a team.

THE STORY
The Hatters rushed out to a 9-0 lead as Georgia Southern failed to convert on their first seven shot attempts from the field. The Eagles finally made their first bucket of the game nearly 3:30 into the game when Sierra Butler hit a layup.

The Eagles were then able to out-score the Hatters in the second quarter 20-15, pulling to within 10, 41-31 at halftime and held server for much of the third quarter as they matched Stetson point-for-point with 18, even pulling to within seven points a couple of times in the period.

Going into the fourth quarter, GSU seemed poised to make a run at Stetson after gaining momentum late in the third when Patrice Butler and McGowan pulled the Eagles to within seven when they hit back-to-back-to-back layups, including two off of turnovers swiped by Beamon and McGowan. However, the Hatters came out strong in the fourth stanza, extending the lead back out to double digits and putting the game out of reach as GSU struggled to keep pace.

QUOTABLES FROM COACH DROWN
"I could tell in the first three possessions that we were not quite ready to play," said head coach Kip Drown. "We didn't guard them properly on back-to-back possessions and (Stetson) was able to hit a pair of threes and then we just didn't run the floor very well transition-wise, so we buried ourselves and I feel like we fought hard to try to dig back out, but we just didn't come out in the beginning and they jumped all over us.

"This game is about heart and toughness and hopefully the team will show that and bounce back from this and step up moving forward. Our players just have to dig down deep and come ready to play."

NEXT UP
The Eagles will wrap up the 28^th Hatter Classic and their non-conference slate with a 3 p.m. game against Bethune-Cookman on Monday, Dec. 21 before taking a break for the holidays. After the holiday break, Georgia Southern will open up Sun Belt Conference play with a pair of road games in Texas, taking on Texas State and UT-Arlington.
 
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.