ATLANTA, Ga. – Last season, the Georgia Southern women's basketball team ended the season with a road win over rival Georgia State; the fifth and final win of the season. Tuesday night, the Eagles did something similar, securing their fifth win of the season with a 61-50 victory on the road in Atlanta, but this time it was not the end of the season's story for the Eagles.

Powered by Angel McGowan's career high-tying 28 points, the Eagles (5-11, 2-5 SBC) trailed only briefly in the first quarter. From that point forward, Southern bent but never broke and even stretched things out in the end en route to claiming the second-straight victory over the rival Panthers in the series between the two programs and ending a three-game skid. McGowan ended the night 10-20 from the field, including 5-for-12 from three-point range, to lead all scorers. She also secured seven rebounds and went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.

Sophomores Trellanie English-Lurry and Sierra Butler each finished the contest with seven points. English-Lurry went 3-for-9 from the field while Butler racked up most of her points at the free throw line, going 5-for-6 there, and Butler also added a game-high 10 rebounds. Junior Patrice Butler ended the night with six points and Alexis Sams added five of her own.

Overall, the Eagles shot 39.2% (20-51) from the field and drained seven three-pointers. They out-rebounded the Panthers (7-9, 2-5 SBC) 38-33 but State received 24 points from its bench compared to just eight from the Southern bench.

Leading the way for the Panthers was Erica Norwood, a former teammate of Patrice Butler's while at Furman prior to Butler transferring to Georgia Southern. Norwood finished the game with 13 points, including three three-pointers, while Alaysia Mitchell chipped in 12 points.

THE STORY
Norwood gave State its second and final lead of the afternoon with a three-pointer that went through with 2:35 left in the opening quarter. Nearly a minute later, McGowan matched the trey with her second three-pointer of the game, taking the lead back for Southern for good aside from a brief tie near the end of the quarter. That three-pointer by McGowan was part of a spurt where the junior guard from Greenville scored all 11 points for the Eagles, carrying over into the second quarter.

The Eagles were able to extend the lead out to seven, 30-23, with 1:10 left in the opening half, but had to settle for a five-point, 30-25 lead after Mitchell made a layup with :52 seconds remaining.

The second half proved to be much more of the same for both teams as Southern moved the ball well, aside from a few turnovers, and converted most of the free throw attempts they were given. The Eagles ended the night shooting 63.6% (14-22) from the charity stripe.

Close to halfway through the fourth quarter, Southern had opened up a double-digit lead over the Panthers. Down the stretch, it seemed like every time State could find points, Southern was there to answer.

QUOTABLES FROM COACH DROWN
"I was really proud of our team tonight because I don't believe there was any form of a hangover from Saturday night. We put it behind us and we moved on," said head coach Kip Drown. "The one thing that I continue to tell our team is we have been resilient. We have continually bounced back from whatever adversity we've faced and we just keep trying to move forward and get better. I'm really proud of how we continue to grow up as a basketball team, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, and I really liked our poise tonight, especially down the stretch. We are taking better care of the ball, have more composure and are running more plays all the way through."

On Securing a Point in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series
"This is a game we wanted to come and get because it is a rivalry game. Our team new the importance of playing against our rival tonight and I thought we came out with great effort and got after them."

On Getting More Fast Starts in Games
"I think we are definitely playing with more confidence. Earlier in the year we walked on the floor and there was some hesitation because they were still learning the system and some players may have been playing too high-strung. I think, now, we are playing more relaxed and with confidence. We are just letting it go a little more and we are starting to get more into a good rhythm right off the bat."

NEXT UP
Georgia Southern continues a four-game road swing on Saturday when the Eagles travel to Boone, N.C. for a 1 p.m. game at Appalachian State. After the trek into the Tar Heel State, the Eagles will head to Arkansas to take on UA-Little Rock and Arkansas State to close out the month of January.


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