CLEMSON, S.C. – Despite 22 points from senior Angel McGowan and a career-high nine rebounds by senior Alexis Sams, the Georgia Southern women's basketball team fell 58-47 on the road at Clemson Wednesday night inside Littlejohn Coliseum. The Eagles led 16-10 after the first quarter, but 20 turnovers hampered the Eagles' efforts down the stretch.

GS shot 34.6% (18-52) from the field, but the Eagles hit on just five of their 24 looks (20.8%) from three-point range. Georgia Southern was also 6-for-9 (66.7%) from the free throw line.

McGowan led all scorers with 22 points, six shy of her career high of 28. The senior from Greenville, S.C., playing with a strong contingent of family and friends in attendance, went 7-for-18 (38.9%) from the field and hit four three-pointers. The four treys were just one shy of her career high.

Patrice Butler saw her streak of consecutive games finishing in double figures come to an end after 11 games as she was the second-highest scorer for Georgia Southern with eight points. She was also second on the team with seven boards as Sams led the Eagles with her nine, three offensive and six off the defensive glass.

The Tigers shot just 32.8% (21-64) from the field, but didn't score any points in the final 4:47 of the game. Clemson received 40 points from its bench and scored 21 off the Eagles' 20 turnovers.

Three Tigers finished in double figures led by Kobi Thornton's 14 off the bench. The 6-2 freshman forward ended the night with a double-double as she also corralled in 11 rebounds. Also finishing in double-digit points were Victoria Cardaci and Aliyah Collier with 12 points each off the bench.

THE STORY
The two teams traded three-pointers in the opening minutes with McGowan hitting two to match Alexis Carter and Nelly Perry from Clemson. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles held a 16-10 advantage, ending the stanza on a 7-3 run.

But the second quarter saw Clemson regroup and retake the lead with 3:20 left in the half. Despite the Eagles shooting 40.0% (4-10) from the field, they still trailed at the half, in part thanks to Clemson's 50.0% (9-18) shooting in the quarter.

The second half saw the Eagles able to hang with the Tigers for much of the half, however turnovers hampered the GS effort at a comeback.

QUOTE FROM COACH KIP DROWN
"I thought we came ready to play, we competed really well and I thought our kids walked in the building and honestly felt like they were going to win the basketball game. I love that about our preparation, I didn't have to worry about that at all. I thought there were three things in the second quarter that changed the game for us: we turned the ball over 10 times the first half, which limited our ability to score, then (Kobi Thornton) off the bench really hurt us off the glass as well as scoring and finally (Victoria Cardaci) off the bench made those threes. That forced us to make some adjustments, we had to get out of our zone which we were having some success in and we had to try some other things. I thought they really hurt us on the offensive glass and there are just some things where we will have to go back and get better at."

NOTES
- Georgia Southern is now 0-4 all-time against Clemson with three of the four meetings being in Clemson. It was the first meeting between the two since the 1988-89 season.
- Three players and one coach all hail from the Palmetto State and had strong support in Clemson Wednesday night. Senior Angel McGowan and freshman Nakol Franks are both from Greenville, S.C., assistant coach Lisa Jackson is from nearby Taylors, S.C. Junior Alexis Foulks hails from Columbia, S.C.
- Senior Alexis Sams ended the night with a career-high nine rebounds, eclipsing her previous mark of seven set last season at Georgia. It is just the fourth time in her career that the 5-5 guard from Orlando, Fla., has led the Eagles on the glass.
- Wednesday night's 22-point effort by Angel McGowan was the 14^th 20-point effort by the senior from Greenville, S.C. It was also the 35^th time she has led the Eagles in scoring.
- Head coach Kip Drown is now 472-349 all-time and 8-23 at Georgia Southern.

NEXT UP
Following the game against the Tigers, Georgia Southern will continue its current stretch of four straight road games by traveling to Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Ala., for a game on Sunday, Nov. 20. The Eagles will then head to Tuscaloosa for a game on the SEC Network+ against the Crimson Tide of Alabama on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Georgia Southern will close out the road swing after Thanksgiving with a game at IUPUI in Indianapolis.


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