STATESBORO, Ga. – Khadija Brown-Haywood scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Arkansas State women's basketball to its 15th straight victory, a 79-52 decision over Georgia Southern Thursday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Angel McGowan tallied 17 points and four rebounds to lead Georgia Southern (7-17, 4-11), and Patrice Butler collected 13 points and five boards. Alexis Sams finished with seven points, three assists and two steals.

Brown-Haywood was 9 of 15 from the floor, 4 of 7 from 3-point range and 8 of 10 from the foul line. Brittney Gill collected 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Aundrea Gamble chipped in eight points, six boards and five assists.

Arkansas State (21-3, 15-0), which has not lost a game since Dec. 21, held Georgia Southern to 33 percent shooting for the game, including 4 of 18 in the third quarter. The Red Wolves made McGowan work for her points, holding the junior to 5 of 19 from the floor.

The story
Georgia Southern shrugged off an early 12-point deficit and took a brief 27-26 lead on a conventional 3-point play by Trellanie English-Lurry 3:05 into the second quarter. The Red Wolves turned up the defense a notch and allowed the Eagles just one point the rest of the period. 

Georgia Southern missed 10 straight shots as Arkansas State built a 38-28 lead on a Brown-Haywood triple with 1:08 left in the half. Arkansas State scored four points in the half's final 13 seconds to open a 42-28 cushion at the break. Lauren Bradshaw canned two free throws, the Eagles threw the ball away on the inbounds pass and Jessica Flannery hit a layup as the horn sounded for the 14-point halftime advantage.

The margin never dipped below double digits in the second half and ballooned to 31 points on a 3-pointer by Kylie Ladd with 1:01 remaining.

Quotable from Georgia Southern Coach Kip Drown
"We switched and went man in the second quarter, and I thought it changed things up a bit and we made that run. We took the lead and then went through a stretch where we really struggled to score. They are a great basketball team. They have five seniors who have played together for a long time, and they don't beat themselves."

"I thought we did some things we wanted to do offensively in the second half and got some good looks but didn't have some shots go down."

"They are where we want to go, and it's a process. If we shoot the basketball well, and if we execute and don't waste possessions, I think we can play with just about anybody in this league. We've been in a lot of games this year that we haven't been able to finish. We very easily could have another two, three, four wins in this conference. There's probably another level between us and Arkansas State, but saying that, I would love the opportunity to play them in another three or four weeks in New Orleans because I think every time you play good people you ought to evolve as a team. You ought to get better at some things so I'd love to have another crack at them."

Next Up
The Eagles continue their four-game homestand by playing host to defending Sun Belt champion Little Rock Saturday in Hanner Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m., and it's Senior Day for the Eagles. Other promotions running Saturday are: Football Coach Tyson Summers will be doing an autograph signing session at the University bookstore at 3 p.m. before the women's game; Alumni Night - All women's basketball alumni are invited back for a fun weekend.
 
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