STATESBORO – After Sunday afternoon's home game against Thomas University, the Georgia Southern women's basketball team is right where head coach Kip Drown hoped they would be, 2-0. The Eagles reached the mark for the first time since the 2008-09 season with a 106-43 win over the Night Hawks of Thomas University (Ga.).

The Eagle (2-0) dominated in every phase of the game, shooting 54.2% (39-72) from the field, converting 34 Night Hawk turnovers into 53 points and out-rebounding Thomas (2-2) 49-36. At the same time, the Eagles limited Thomas to just 24.2% (16-66) shooting from the field and only allowed the Night Hawks to go to the free throw line once.

Five Eagles finished the game in double figures for scoring led by the senior tandem of Angel McGowan and Patrice Butler. McGowan netted a game-high 19 points off a 6-for-9 (66.7%) performance from the field and added in four assists and three steals. Butler – who extended her streak of games where she has finished with double-digit points to 11 – scored 14 points, including sinking three three-pointers, and had four blocks, a career high. She just missed out on a double-double as she corralled in eight rebounds.

Freshman guard Alexis Brown ended the game matching Butler's point production with 14 points of her own off a 5-for-7 (71.4%) shooting performance that saw the freshman hit three of her four treys. Alexis Foulks and Nakol Franks rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Eagles. Foulks scored 12 points, hitting five of her six attempts (83.3%) while Franks netted 10 points.

For the second game in a row, Georgia Southern was able to get valuable minutes for many of the younger players, something that will serve the Eagles well as they begin a stretch of four games on the road in a row.

The Night Hawks were led in scoring by J'Nyiah Daniels and Tess Wright's 12 points each. Daniels went 4-for-12 (33.3%) from the field while Wright hit on 57.1% (4-7) of her attempts. Both had a game-high four three-pointers.

THE STORY
Georgia Southern cruised to the victory by out-scoring the Night Hawks in each quarter while holding the foes to single digits in the first two quarters. The Eagles out-scored Thomas 36-5 in the opening stanza and never looked back as McGowan led the way for Georgia Southern early, netting 12 points in the first quarter alone.

In the second quarter, the Eagles went on an 18-0 run at one point, out-scoring Thomas 22-7 in the period. The closest Thomas was able to come to Georgia Southern was in the fourth quarter when the Eagles held a 20-18 advantage.

QUOTES FROM COACH KIP DROWN
Overall on the game
 "The number one thing, and I told our kids this, is we came out from the start and we established a tempo and we established aggressiveness. Sometimes, you are a little concerned about that, but our players came out and were ready to play and it showed up in the execution. When you're not ready to play, you don't shoot the basketball that well, you don't do the things that I thought we did well during the game, particularly in the first half. I was very pleased with the way that we established the pace and tempo and how that got us off to a really good start."

On starting the season 2-0
"I think confidence is an area where we felt we needed to take that next step to make this a successful basketball program. We really needed to start believing in ourselves, so this is a big step for that. We came in here this weekend and won these two games, so I know in that locker room right now we feel good about ourselves. That's important. We played well, we did a lot of good things this weekend. We had some moments that we're going to work on and get better at, but overall we played well, we shot the ball well and we're really excited about the 80 minutes we were able to put together this weekend."

NOTES
- Georgia Southern is now 1-0 all-time against the Thomas as Sunday was the first-ever meeting between the two.
- Sunday's win marks the first time since the 2008-09 season that Georgia Southern has started a season 2-0. That year, the Eagles defeated Brewton-Parker at home before defeating Florida Atlantic on the road.
- Sunday's 106-point performance marks the 18^th time the Eagles have hit the century mark. It is the first time since the 1998-99 Eagles defeated Houston 102-76 on Nov. 20, 1998.
- The 106 points scored by Georgia Southern is tied for the sixth-most by an Eagle women's basketball team in program history. It matches the mark set by the 1991-92 Eagles on Dec. 9, 1991, against Charleston Southern.
- The 63-point victory is the third-highest margin of victory by an Eagle women's basketball program.
- The Eagles' 39 field goals converted is the 10^th-most by a Georgia Southern team.
- The 12 three-pointers made by the Eagles Sunday ties the fourth-most treys converted by an Eagle women's basketball team. It matches the mark set by the 2008-09 Eagles against Brewton-Parker on Nov. 15, 2008.
- The 31 three-point field goals attempted by Georgia Southern are fourth-most in program history.
The Eagles' 24 steals Sunday matches the marks set by the 1999-2000 and 1992-93 teams. The 1999-2000 Eagles had 24 steals against College of Charleston on Jan. 15, 2000, while the 1992-93 team set the mark against Marshall on Jan. 30, 1993.
- Senior Patrice Butler – Sunday marks the 42^nd time Butler has scored in double figures for the Eagles. It is the 11^th straight game the senior forward/center has eclipsed the 10-point mark dating back to last season. Butler set a career high for blocks in a game as she swatted away four balls.
- Senior Angel McGowan – Sunday marks the 51^st time McGowan has scored in double figures. It is also the 34^th time the senior from Greenville, S.C. has led the team in scoring. With her three steals Sunday, McGowan now has 155 career steals, moving her up to a tie for 12^th all-time in program history. Her 19 points gives her 1,029, moving her up to 20^th all-time in program history.
- Junior Alexis Foulks – Foulks just missed out on a career mark for points with her 12 points. She scored her career high of 13 last season against Bethune-Cookman. She converted a career-high five field goals in the game.
- Head coach Kip Drown is now 472-348 all-time and 8-22 at Georgia Southern.

NEXT UP
The Eagles will now hit the road for four straight road games starting this Wednesday, Nov. 16 at Clemson. The Eagles and Tigers will tip off Wednesday night at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network Extra inside renovated Littlejohn Arena. Following the game against the Tigers, Georgia Southern will travel to Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Ala., before traveling to Tuscaloosa for a game on the SEC Network+ against the Crimson Tide of Alabama. Georgia Southern will close out the road swing after Thanksgiving with a game at IUPUI in Indianapolis.


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