STATESBORO, Ga. – UCF outscored the Georgia Southern women's basketball team 15-4 in the third quarter to pull away for a 74-54 victory over the Eagles Saturday afternoon at Hanner Fieldhouse. Three UCF players scored in double figures, combining to score all but 18 of UCF's points. The Eagles (3-7) shot just 33.9 percent from the field, including 20 percent in the second half, and were out-rebounded 44-31 in the game while UCF (9-2) shot 48.4 percent from the field.

The Eagles were led by Angel McGowan and Patrice Butler, who both scored 11 points. Butler also grabbed six rebounds while McGowan hit two 3-pointers. Ten Georgia Southern players scored in the game and the Eagles hit nine three-pointers in the loss.

The Knights were led by Zykira Lewis, who had 21 points and hit five 3-pointers. Tolulope Mokore had 20 points and 11 rebounds while Aliyah Gregory dropped in 15 points and handed out six assists.

THE STORY
Georgia Southern fell behind early in the first quarter and fought back to tie the game at 12, but UCF finished the first quarter on a 10-3 run to lead 22-15 at the first break. Lewis' nine points led the Knights early on. Six different Eagles scored in the first quarter as no one had more than three points.

In the second quarter, Alexis Brown scored the first five points to get GS within two points, forcing a UCF timeout. The Eagles trimmed the deficit to four points midway through the period, but the Knights closed the period on a 10-2 run to take a 44-32 lead into the locker room. UCF shot 55.9 percent from the field in the first half while the Eagles shot 50 percent. The big difference was the rebounding as the Knights out-rebounded the Eagles 22-9 in the first half.

The Knights owned the third quarter as they clamped down on the Eagles defensively. GS made just one field goal in the period - a three-pointer from Alexis Sams with under a minute left - while shooting 7.7 percent from the field (1-13).

In the fourth quarter, GS started hot and chipped away at the lead, but the Eagles missed their last 10 field goals and didn't score from the field in the final 5:33 of the game.

QUOTE FROM COACH KIP DROWN
"We played a very good basketball team and they are 9-2 for a reason. They can rebound on the offensive glass as well as anybody and they are an excellent pressure team. They create 22 turnovers a game, but I was really pleased with our effort tonight because we only turned the ball over 14 times. Seven of those were in the first quarter, so after that we settled down and started doing a better job of taking care of the basketball. There were some positives for us, we just have to keep getting better. As we get geared up for our Sun Belt Conference schedule that was an excellent team for us to play to get us ready because of the way they play and their athleticism."

NEXT UP
Georgia Southern will close out the non-conference portion of the 2016-17 campaign on Thursday, Dec. 22 against South Carolina State at 1:30 p.m. The game against the Bulldogs will be the first half of a doubleheader with the Eagle men following with a game against Fisk. The Georgia Southern women will then open Sun Belt Conference play by hosting Georgia State on Saturday, Dec. 31 to close out the 2016 portion of the 2016-17 campaign.


The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your our ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

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. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by visiting GSEagles.com/Tickets.