Women's Basketball | 2/5/2016 3:24:00 PM

Georgia Southern (6-14, 3-8) vs. Texas State (10-10, 5-5)
Saturday, Feb. 6 – Hanner Fieldhouse (4,325) – 4:30 p.m.

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Radio: 91.9 FM the Buzz
Promotions: Pack the House in Pink – Fans are asked to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness and education; Halftime Show – Rocket Stars perform tumbling, jumping and high-intense gymnastics.

Series: GSU trails 3-0, L3
In Statesboro: TXST leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: 12/30/15 - L, 61-56 (San Marcos, Texas)

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)]

Texas State Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@TXStateWBB]

HOME GAME PROMOTIONS
• Saturday's games against Texas State will serve as Georgia Southern's annual Pack the House in Pink night. Fans are asked to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness and education.
• At halftime of both Saturday's games the Rocket Stars will perform. They are a group that performs tumbling, jumping and high-intense gymnastics.

INSIDE THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS
• Following Thursday's loss to UT Arlington, Georgia Southern dropped into a tie for 10th in the Sun Belt Conference standings with UL Monroe with a 3-8 ledger in league games. Georgia State and Appalachian State both won their respective games Thursday and remain in a tie for eighth in the standings with matching 4-7 conference marks.
• 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 4-6 conference mark, South Alabama and Troy are tied for fifth with identical 5-6 SBC records and Texas State is fourth with a 5-5 record in league action.

WITHIN THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE (As of 2-3-16)
• As a team, Georgia Southern entered the week in the top-six of the Sun Belt Conference in six different statistical categories.
• The Eagle women are currently third in three-point field goals made per game (6.1) and they are fifth in the league in free throw percentage (.694), three-point field goal percentage defense (.307) and defensive rebounds per game (24.5).
• Southern is sixth in the conference in field goal percentage defense (.394) and rebounding defense (37.6 per game).
• Juniors Angel McGowan (15.1 points per game) and Patrice Butler (12.0) are both in the top-15 of the conference in scoring. They are two of only four juniors in the top-11 of the conference in scoring as the other seven players are all seniors.
• McGowan is also in the top-15 in three-pointers made per game (4th, 2.0) free throw percentage (6th, .754), steals (8th, 2.1 per game), three-point field goal percentage (9th, .346) and field goal percentage (15th, .430).
• Along with being 11th in scoring, Butler is also 13th in the SBC in rebounding (5.6) per game and defensive rebounds per game (3.9).
• Sophomore Sierra Butler is just behind Patrice with 5.1 boards per game, good enough for 18th in the conference but she is 13th in the league with 2.1 offensive rebounds per contest.
• Junior guard Alexis Sams is second in minutes played (35.6 per game), 13th for three-point field goals made per game (1.4) and is 15th in the Sun Belt with a .321 three-point field goal percentage.
• Senior Briana Jones is 12th in the league with 0.7 rebounds per game.

QUICK HITTERS
• Thursday's game against UT Arlington marked the beginning of the second go-around in conference play. The Eagles have now played all 10 other teams in the league once.
• The next two games will be strength against strength for the Eagles and their opponents. Texas State and UT Arlington are the best three-point shooting teams in the conference while Southern is a a top-five team against the three-ball. The Bobcats lead the conference with a .355 shooting percentage from beyond the arc and average a Sun Belt-best 7.7 treys per game while the Mavericks shoot 34.0%. The Eagles have held opponents to just .307 from three-point range so far this season.
• In Thursday's game against UT Arlington, two Eagles reached career milestones. Senior Sierra Kirkland brought down her 509th and 510th career rebounds in the game with the Mavericks. Her second rebound of the game moved her into sole possession of 19th all-time in program history in rebounding, surpassing Beverly Wilson (1981-85).
• Junior Angel McGowan logged her 300th-career made field goal in the game and is now just 27 points away from 900 career points.
• Guard Alexis Sams is currently 13 made three-pointers away from 10th-all time in program history. She has 95 so far in her career.

THE HISTORY WITH TEXAS STATE
• The meeting between Southern and Texas State at the end of December was just the third time the two have squared off with Texas State claiming all three contests.
• Last season, the Bobcats defeated the Eagles 79-65 in Statesboro in just the second-ever Sun Belt Conference game for GSU.
• In last season's game in Statesboro, four Bobcats ended the game in double-figures led by Ayriel Anderson with 16.
• For the Eagles, it was the duo of Patrice Butler (24 pts) and Angel McGowan (18 pts) leading the way.
• Earlier this season, Kaitlin Walla and Toshua Leavitt spurred the Bobcats to a 61-56 win in San Marcos as they both scored 14 points.
• For Georgia Southern, McGowan (20 pts) and Butler (17 pts) were the leading scorers and McGowan also led the team with eight rebounds.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
• The Bobcats (10-10, 5-5 SBC) entered the week fourth in the conference standings, having lost three of their last five with wins over Little Rock and Louisiana but losses on the road at UL Monroe and Georgia State and at home to Arkansas State.
• Texas State is sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 62.6 points per game and they go down to ninth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing their opposition to average 70.7 points per outing.
• The Bobcats lead the league in three-point field goal percentage, converting 35.5% of their attempts and are also tops in three-pointers made as they average 7.7 per outing.
• Outside of the three-ball, the Bobcats are eighth in the league in field goal percentage (.380) and 10th in field goal percentage defense (.445). They are also 11th in rebounding defense (32.8 per game) and 10th in rebounding defense, allowing teams to bring down 41.2 boards per game.
• Texas State is led in scoring by Kaitlin Walla, averaging 11.9 points per game, and Taeler Deer who averages 11.2 points per game, good enough for 12th and 14th in the Sun Belt Conference respectively.
• Walla, who has started all but two of the Bobcats' games this season, averages 29.6 minutes and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 37.7% from the field. She leads the team with 41 three-pointers so far this season.
• Deer has started just nine of 17 games this season and leads the team with 29 steals. She shoots 44.9% from the field and is third on the squad with 19 treys for the year.
• Ericka May is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 7.2 boards per game. She is also the only Bobcat to have started all 19 games. May shoots 38.9% from the field and leads the team with 12 blocks on the season.

NEXT UP
• Georgia Southern will next go on the road to the state of Alabama where they will take on Troy on Thursday, Feb. 11 and South Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 13. The Eagles' game at Troy will tip off at 6:15 p.m. Eastern standard time while the game against the Jaguars is slated for a 3 p.m. EST start.

SEASON TICKETS
• Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GSEagles.com/tickets. Season ticket options are available for both general admission and reserved seating. Fans can enjoy chair-back seats in the reserved sections for $90 a season ticket for either men's or women's basketball. Alternatively, general admission season tickets are $65 and are located behind the baskets on bleachers. A combo package is also available for $120 and includes both men's and women's basketball contests.

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.