Women's Basketball | 1/24/2016 9:12:00 AM

Georgia Southern (5-11, 2-5 SBC) at Appalachian State (5-11, 2-5 SBC)
Monday, Jan. 25 – Boone, N.C., Holmes Center (8,325) – 4:00 p.m.
 
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Series: Southern leads, 35-19 (L2)
In Boone: Southern leads, 17-7
Last Meeting: 2/26/15 – L, 66-39 (Boone, N.C.)
Probable Starters for Georgia Southern (Based on previous games):
#2 Trellanie English-Lurry, G
#11 Angel McGowan, G
#23 Alexis Sams, G
#25 Sierra Butler, F
#35 Patrice Butler, C

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

Appalachian State Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@AppStateWBB]
 
ANOTHER LONG ROAD SWING
• Georgia Southern women's basketball team is in the midst of a four game road swing spread over two weeks.
• The Eagles commenced their two weeks on the road with a 61-50 win over in-state rival Georgia State on Tuesday, Jan. 19. The Eagles will next travel to Boone, N.C. for a Sunday afternoon game at Appalachian State.
• Following the games at Georgia State and App State, the Eagles will travel to the state of Arkansas for games at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State.

PLENTY OF BASKETBALL LEFT TO BE PLAYED
• Georgia Southern is currently in a three-way tie for the all-important eighth spot in the conference standings. The Eagles, Appalachian State, and UT Arlington all have two conference wins and five conference losses.
• The eighth spot in the standings is important because only the top-eight in the conference standings go to the conference tournament held in New Orleans, La. in March.
• GSU boasts a win over South Alabama while UT Arlington has wins over both GSU and App State.
• Georgia State and South Alabama sit in a tie for sixth with matching 3-5 records in Sun Belt play. UA-Little Rock is fifth with a 4-4 conference record.

QUICK HITTERS
• In Tuesday's 61-50 win over rival Georgia State, junior guard Angel McGowan eclipsed another career milestone as she surpassed the 800 points total for her career. Her 28 points against the Panthers, matching her career-high for points in a game, gives her 810 total points in three seasons. She averages 10.8 points per outing in 75 career games.
• Senior Sierra Kirkland is just one rebound away from 500 for her career. She averages 4.6 per game through 107 career games.
• Georgia Southern is in the top-five in the Sun Belt Conference in five categories. The Eagles are fifth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.302) and defensive rebounds (24.7/game), fourth in field goal percentage defense (.388) and third in free throw percentage (.713) and 3-point field goals made (6.3/game).
• McGowan and junior Patrice Butler are both in the top-15 of the conference in scoring. McGowan's 14.8 points per game has her sixth in the league while Butler's 11.9 has her 13th in the SBC.
• McGowan is also in the top-15 in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage (15th, .435), 3-point field goal percentage (10th, .341), steals (5th, 2.2/game) and 3-pointers made (6th, 1.9/game).
• Butler is also in the top-15 in the conference in rebounding (14th, 5.4/game), free throw percentage (2nd, .818) and defensive rebounds (15th, 3.6/game).
• Senior Briana Jones is tied for 12th in the league with 0.8 blocks per game (12 total).
• Alexis Sams is 13th in assists (2.5/game), 13th in 3-point field goal percentage (.324) and 3-pointers made (1.4/game) and leads the league with 36.3 minutes per outing.
• Sophomore Sierra Butler is tied for 13th in the league with 2.0 offensive rebounds per game.

THE HISTORY WITH APPALACHIAN STATE
• The series with Appalachian State, boasting 54 games played so far, is the third-longest series in program history. The Eagles have played only Mercer (63 times) and Chattanooga (55 times) more times.
• Appalachian State and Georgia Southern began as rivals in the SoCon before both moving over to the Sub Belt Conference together prior to the 2014-15 season.
• The two programs first squared off on January 1, 1990 in Statesboro. App State claimed that meeting 91-89, but Southern went on to win the next four in a row and five of the next six.
• Southern boasts the longest winning streak in the series with 14 wins from Feb. 8, 2000 through Feb. 21, 2005, all under Rusty Cram.
• The Eagles and Mountaineers met four times during the 2001 calendar year with Southern winning all four games by an average of 14.0 points. Three of the four games were part of the 2000-01 season with the fourth coming during the 2001-02 season.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
• The Mountaineers (5-11, 2-5 SBC) are in the midst of a three-game losing skid and have lost four of their last five games.
• Earlier this season, the Mountaineers defeated UL Monroe 57-54 on the road and Texas State 90-71 at home. They are 4-3 at home.
• They average a Sun Belt fifth-best 64.2 points per game, but opponents score 71.1 points against them (9th-best in the conference) for a scoring margin of -6.9.
• App State shoots 37.3% from the field but struggles from three-point range, connecting on just 24.7% of their looks from long range.
• The Mountaineers are allowing opponents to hit 41.6% of their attempts from the field and those opponents have also converted 30.8% of their attempts from three-point range.
• App State has two players averaging double-digit points in sophomore guard Madi Story and junior guard Joi Jones. Story leads the team with 10.8 points per game while Jones is second with 10.3.
• Behind Story and Jones, freshman Kaila Craven contributes 9.8 points per outing and senior KeKe Cooper adds 7.9 points.
• Cooper leads the team with a .596 shooting percentage and Craven leads the team with 22 three-pointers.
• Under the basket, Mia Marshall and Cooper lead the Mountaineers with 114 and 113 rebounds, respectively.

NEXT UP
• Georgia Southern continues the four-game road swing with a trip out to Arkansas next week. The Eagles begin their time in the Natural State with a Thursday, Jan. 28 game at UA-Little Rock. Tipoff is slated for 6:15 p.m. EST. The Eagles will then travel to Arkansas State for a 4:05 p.m. EST tilt on Saturday, Jan. 30 to close out the month of January. That game will air on ESPN3.


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