Women's Basketball | 12/29/2015 4:36:00 PM

Georgia Southern (3-6) at Texas State (5-5)
Wednesday, Dec. 30 – Strahan Coliseum (7,200) – 6:30 p.m. EST
Georgia Southern (3-6) at UT Arlington (5-5)
Sunday, Jan. 2 – College Park Center (7,00) – 6:30 p.m. EST
 
Live Video (Texas State) | Live Stats (Texas State)  |  Live Video (UT Arlington) | Live Stats (UT Arlington)  |  Live Audio (Both)

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

Texas State Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@TXSTATEBOBCATS]
 
UT Arlington Information
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@UTAMAVS]
 
Probable Starters for Georgia Southern:
#11 Angel McGowan, G
#23 Alexis Sams, G
#24 Rhein Beamon, G
#25 Sierra Butler, F
#35 Patrice Butler, C
 
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
• The Eagles will open up their second season in the Sun Belt Conference with a two-game road swing through Texas before returning home for a four-game homestand.
• Georgia Southern opens up Sun Belt play with Texas State and UT Arlington for the second-straight year. The Eagles will face off against the Wildcats of TSU on Wednesday, Dec. 30 and then will take on the Mavericks on Saturday, Jan. 2.
• Last season, the Eagles went 2-18 in Sun Belt play with both wins coming on the road.
• GSU's first-ever Sun Belt Conference win came on the road at South Alabama. The Eagles defeated the Jaguars 67-53 on January 10 in the program's fourth conference game of the season.
• All but one of Georgia Southern's Sun Belt Conference games will be doubleheaders with the men's teams following. The lone exception will be the Eagles' road game at Georgia State on Monday, Jan. 18. The Eagle women and Panther women will play that Monday at 7 p.m. with the men playing on Tuesday, Jan. 19 due to the game airing on ESPN2.
 
LAYUP LINE
• The Eagles are currently 3-3 in the month of December including starting the month off on a three-game win streak over Savannah State, Jacksonville State and Charleston Southern.
• In the Eagles' Dec 21 game against Bethune-Cookman, junior guard Angel McGowan reached another career milestone as she scored her 700th career point.
• Fellow junior Patrice Butler was named to the Hatter Classic All-Tournament team following the Bethune-Cookman game. Butler had 22 points off 9-27 shooting (.333), including two three-pointers, and corralled in 9 rebounds between the two games.
• Senior Briana Jones has 73 blocks on the season, just six away from third all-time in program history.
• Senior Sierra Kirkland played in her 100th-career game when the Eagles took on Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 21. It was also her 100th-straight game. She is now just 13 games played away from joining the seven-way tie for 15th all-time in program history.
• Kirkland is currently 20th all-time with 30 career blocks, three away from 19th and four away fromm the two-way tie for 17th.
• Junior guard Alexis Sams is the only GSU player to start all nine games this season. Sams also leads the team with 36.1 minutes per game and 14 three-pointers per contest.
 
THE HISTORY WITH TEXAS STATE
• This will be just the third meeting between Georgia Southern and Texas State as the two had never played prior to GSU joining the Sun Belt Conference last season.
• TSU won both meetings a season ago to own a 2-0 record over the Eagles, including an 84-74 win in San Marcos in the second meeting.
 
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
• The Bobcats (5-5) most recently lost to Southeastern Conference opponent Missouri 82-56 on Dec. 21 in Columbia, MO, snapping a three-game winning streak.
• Included in that three game-winning streak were a pair of games at home, part of TSU's 4-0 home record this season in which they have out-scored opponents 268-230 (averages of 67-57.5).
• Overall, the Bobcats are averaging 59.5 points per contest while their opponents are averaging 70.8 points. Those opponents include two SEC teams (Texas A&M and Missouri), as well as St. Edward's, North Texas, Iowa State, Idaho, Duke, UTSA, Texas A&M-Commerce and Houston Baptist.
• TSU is allowing opponents to shoot close to 50% (46.2% to be exact) from the field while shooting just 36.6%.
• 10 of TSU's 14 active players are either freshmen or sophomores and the Bobcats have just four forwards listed on the roster.
• The tandem of sophomore guards Taeler Deeler and Kaitlin Walla lead the way in scoring for the Bobcats with 12.4 and 12.2 points respectively.
• Deeler leads the duo with a 44.9% shooting percentage but has played in one less game than Walla.
• Walla is one of eight players to play in all 10 games so far this season. She also shoots 47.1% from three-point range and leads the team with 24 treys on the season.
• Only two players have started all 10 games for TSU, sophomore guard Ericka May and senior Ayriel Anderson. They average 6.5 and 6.4 points per game respectively. May leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game.
 
FAMILY AFFAIR FOR ENGLISH-LURRY
• When the Eagles and Bobcats tangle on the hardwood on Wednesday, there will be two sets of sisters on the court. Eagle fans are familiar with the duo of forwards Patrice Butler and Sierra Butler, but another Eagle will have a familiar face on the other side of the contest as sophomore guard Trellanie English-Lurry's half sister Kiani Lurry is a freshman guard for TSU. Kiani Lurry has started five games and appeared in all 10 for the Bobcats.
 
THE HISTORY WITH UT ARLINGTON
• Like with Texas State, the history with the Mavericks of UT Arlington is a short one for the Eagles as UTA holds a 2-0 record in the only two meetings between the two programs.
• The two last met in Statesboro with UTA claiming a 66-41 win. The Mavericks won 64-52 earlier in the season in the Eagles' first-ever SBC contest in Arlington on Dec. 30, 2014.
 
SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
• The Mavericks (5-5) are currently in the midst of a two-game win streak heading into the week but face Georgia State (on a three-game win streak of their own) in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both programs on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
• At home, UTA is 2-3 on the season with wins over Jacksonville and Missouri Valley. The three losses have come at the hands of McNeeze State, Seton Hall and Western Kentucky.
• Arlington is averaging 57 points per contest to this point in the season while opponents are averaging 55.4.
• The Mavs are also out-shooting their opponents 38.4% compared to 37.0% from the field.
• UTA boasts an experienced squad with five seniors, two juniors and four sophomores compared to just one freshman.
• Two players have started in every game, sophomore guard Cierra Johnson and sophomore center Rebekah VanDijk, while LaShanda Green has started all but one game.
• In total, eight players have seen time in all 10 contests for the Mavs.
• While the Mavs do not have any players averaging double-digit points, they are very balanced with two averaging just over 9.0 points per contest and another averaging just over 8.0 points.
• Senior guard Amara Wainwright leads all scorers with 9.3 points per outing and also is tops on the team with 19 three-pointers, shooting 47.0% from the field and 47.5% from three-point range.
• Cierra Johnson is second on the team with 9.1 points per contest while sophomore center Rebekah VanDijk averages 8.3.
• VanDijk leads the team under the basket with 7.3 rebounds per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Bethune-Cookman hit five-straight three-pointers to open the game and the Georgia Southern women's basketball team was unable to fully overcome the deficit as they ultimately fell 65-49 to the Wildcats, closing out their non-conference schedule 3-6.
• Junior Patrice Butler earned all-tournament accolades for the Hatter Classic after leading the Eagles with 16 points off 6-for-11 shooting from the field in the game. She was 2-for-2 from three-point range and brought down five rebounds while Alexis Foulks came off the bench to score 13 points, including three treys, and bring down six boards.
• Bethune-Cookman's Kendra Cooper led all scorers with 31 points, going 8-for-14 from the field and 6-for-10 from beyond the arc en route to earning all-tournament honors. The speedy guard also hit nine of her 10 free throw attempts.
• Georgia Southern shot 36.0% (18-50) from the field and was able to hold the Wildcats to just three made field goals in the fourth quarter, but BCU went to the charity stripe 20 times in the stanza, making 14. The Wildcats ended the game hitting 16 of the 26 attempts (61.5%).
• The Wildcats controlled the pace of the game from the opening tip as Cooper converted four of BCU's five opening drives with three-pointers.
• It didn't get any easier for the Eagles as the game wore on despite spurts where the Eagles were able to close the gap a little. Bethune-Cookman relied heavily on Cooper's ability to knock down the three as well as drive the lane for much of the game, extending their lead out to as many as 16 in the third quarter.
• But the third quarter was also when Georgia Southern managed to find some rhythm and momentum, closing to within single digits several times as the Wildcats began missing shots and turning the ball over.
• Despite closing the gap, the Eagles were ultimately unable to finish down the stretch as Cooper and Taylor Houston combined forces to score all 20 of the Wildcats' fourth quarter points, 14 coming from free throws.
 
NEXT UP
• Georgia Southern will open a four-game, Sun Belt Conference homestand beginning Thursday, Jan. 7 when South Alabama rolls into town for a 5 p.m. game. That same weekend, the Eagles will welcome the Trojans of Troy to town on Saturday, Jan. 9 for a 2:30 p.m. game.

 
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.