Women's Basketball | 1/29/2016 1:12:00 PM

Georgia Southern (6-12, 3-6 SBC) at Arkansas State (15-3, 9-0 SBC)
Saturday, Jan. 30 – Jonesboro, Ark., Convocation Center (10,563) – 4:05 p.m. EST

Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio
Radio: 91.9 FM the Buzz

Series: Arkansas State leads, 3-0 (L3)
In Jonesboro: ASU leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: 2/12/15 – L, 81-73 (Statesboro, Ga.)

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)]

Arkansas State Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@AStateWB]

INSIDE THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS
• Currently, Georgia Southern is in a three-way tie for eighth in the Sun Belt Conference standings. Southern, Georgia State and Appalachian State are all 3-6 in league action. The Eagles most recently fell to Little Rock on Thursday while Georgia State fell at Arkansas State. App State posted a win over Troy to move up into the tie with the Eagles and Panthers.
• The eighth spot in the standings is important because only the top eight teams in the final conference standings go to the conference tournament held in New Orleans, La. in March.
 • UT Arlington sits in seventh with a 3-5 conference mark, South Alabama is sixth (4-5), Troy is now fifth (5-5) and Little Rock sits fourth with a 5-4 conference record.

WITHIN THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE
• As a team, Georgia Southern entered the week in the top-seven in eight different statistical categories.
• The Eagle women are currently fourth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.305) and fifth in free throw percentage (.695) and field goal percentage defense (.389).
• Georgia Southern is sixth in rebounding defense, allowing 37.7 rebounds per game, and defensive rebounds per contest (24.4).
• Southern is seventh in the league in scoring defense, allowing 60.9 points per game, three-point field goal percentage (.303) and blocked shots (2.7).
• Individually, four different Eagles are currently in the top-20 in the league in 15 categories.
• Junior guard Angel McGowan is currently third in the Sun Belt in three-pointers made (2.1 per game) and is fifth in scoring with 15.1 points per outing and field goals made (2.1 per game). She is also seventh in steals (2.1 per game) and free throw percentage (.759), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.365) and 12th in the conference in field goal percentage (.446).
• Junior forward/center Patrice Butler is 11th in the conference in scoring with 11.9 points per outing. She is fifth in free throw percentage (.769), and 13th in rebounding (5.7 per game) as well as defensive rebounds (3.9 per game).
• Junior point guard Alexis Sams is second in the conference in minutes played (35.8 per game). She is also tied for 10th in three-pointers made (1.4 per game), and she is also 12th in three-point field goal percentage (.338).
• Senior forward/center Briana Jones is tied for 11th in the Sun Belt in blocked shots as she is currently averaging 0.7 on the season. She has 13 total.

QUICK HITTERS
• Monday's 65-50 win at Appalachian State marked the first time since the 2013-14 season that Georgia Southern won back-to-back road games. In that season, Chris Vozab's Eagles defeated Western Carolina 63-56 on Jan. 25, 2014 and then turned around and defeated App State 68-59 on Jan. 27.
• In the 15-point win over the Mountaineers, the Eagles scored the most points in a first quarter this season, netting 25 points and surpassing the previous mark by four. The previous game-high of the season was set on Dec. 17, 2015 against Robert Morris when the Eagles scored 21 points in the first quarter.
• Senior Sierra Kirkland corralled in three rebounds on Monday, surpassing the 500 rebound total for her career. Kirkland now has 503 career caroms which has her just six away from Beverly Wilson (1981-85) in 19th all-time in program history. For her career, Kirkland averages 4.6 per contest.
• Senior Briana Jones recorded another blocked shot in Monday's contest, bringing her season total to 13 and her career total to 77. She currently sits in fourth all-time in program history but is just two blocks shy of Trina Roberts (1980-84) in third with 79.
• Juniors Alexis Sams and Angel McGowan are both close to moving into the top-10 in program history for career three-pointers made. Sams has 93 career treys, leaving her just 15 shy of Samantha Williams (2008-12) in 10th with 108 while McGowan is 22 back, but she averages just over 2.0 three-pointers per game this season. Sams averages 1.4.
• McGowan is also just nine steals away from breaking into the top-20 in program history. Her 125 career swipes has her within striking distance of matching Andrea Autrey (1991-95) who had 134 steals during her career.

THE HISTORY WITH ARKANSAS STATE
• Arkansas State and Georgia Southern have tangled on the hardwood three times previously with Arkansas State having won all three meetings.
• The two first met as out-of-conference foes at the SMU Tournament in Dallas, Texas during the 2010-11 season when Arkansas State won 49-37. The two then renewed acquaintances last season as Sun Belt foes with the Red Wolves claiming a pair of wins, 86-63 in Jonesboro and 81-73 in Statesboro.

SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES
• The Red Wolves (15-3, 9-0 SBC) boast the conference's longest active winning streak entering the week, having won nine-straight since opening Sun Belt play back in December.
• Arkansas State is a perfect 8-0 at home so far this season.
• ASU is currently the league's second-highest scoring team, averaging 73.3 points per game. They are holding their opponents to a league fourth-best 59.0 points per outing.
• The Red Wolves lead the conference in scoring margin (+14.3), field goal percentage (.445) and assist/turnover ratio (1.0).
• They are seventh in the league in field goal percentage defense as they have allowed opponents to convert 39.3% of their shots thus far.
• Three players are currently averaging double-digit points led by Aundrea Gamble's 17.6 points per game, second-best in the league. Gamble is also fifth in the Sun Belt in shooting percentage as she enters Saturday's contest hitting on 51.4% of her looks from the field.
• Gamble leads the team with 42 steals on the year and shoots .797 from the free throw line.
• Behind Gamble, Khadi Brown-Haywood averages 16.1 points per game, fourth-best in the conference, and Amanda Lawson contributes 10.2 points per outing.
• Brown-Haywood is second on the team with 26 three-pointers on the year behind Jessica Flanery's 32. Flannery has hit on 32.0% of her attempts from beyond the three-point arc while Brown-Haywood has converted 33.3% and leads the team with 9.4 rebounds per game, good enough for tops in the conference.

NEXT UP
• Georgia Southern returns home for a pair of games to open the month of February. The Eagles will first welcome UT Arlington to Statesboro on Thursday, Feb. 4 for a 5:00 p.m. game before Texas State comes to town on Saturday, Feb. 6 for a 4:30 p.m. contest. The game with the Bobcats will serve as the Eagles' annual Pink Game.


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.