Women's Basketball | 3/2/2016 10:03:00 AM

Georgia Southern (7-20, 4-14) at UL Monroe (10-17, 4-14)
Thursday, Mar. 3 – Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,000) – 5:15 p.m. EST

Live Video | Live Stats | Live Audio
Radio: 91.9 FM the Buzz (Colin Lacy, play-by-play)

Last Meeting: 1/16/16 – L, 49-50 (Statesboro, Ga.)
Overall: ULM leads, 3-0
In Statesboro: ULM leads, 2-0
In Monroe: ULM leads, 1-0
Current Streak: ULM – W3

Probable Starters for Georgia Southern (Based on previous games):
#11 Angel McGowan, G
#20 Sierra Kirkland, F
#23 Alexis Sams, G
#25 Sierra Butler, F
#35 Patrice Butler, C

Georgia Southern Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@GSAthletics_WBB] [Game Notes (PDF)]

UL Monroe Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@ULM_WBB]

INSIDE THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS
• With the regular season winding down this week, there is only one final spot in the eight-team tournament field up for grabs between App State and Georgia State.
• Arkansas State (regular-season champions), Little Rock, UL Lafayette, Troy, South Alabama, UT Arlington and Texas State have secured berths into the tournament.
 
THE EAGLES WITHIN THE SUN BELT
• Heading into the final week of the regular-season the Georgia Southern women's basketball team finds itself seventh or higher in the conference in eight different statistical categories.
• As a team, the Eagles are fourth in three-point field goals made per game (6.2) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.315).
• The Eagles are also sixth in field goal percentage defense (.397) and seventh in scoring defense (62.2 points allowed per game), free throw percentage (.678), three-point field goal percentage (.294), blocked shots (2.6 per game) and defensive rebounds per game (24.0).
• Juniors Angel McGowan and Patrice Butler will look to close out the season in the top-10 of the conference in scoring. McGowan is currently seventh in the league as she averages 14.4 points per game and Butler is close behind in ninth with 12.6 points per outing.
• McGowan is also fourth in the conference for steals (2.2 per game), sixth in three-pointers made (2.0 per game) and ninth in the league in free throw percentage (.716).
• Butler is 13th in the Sun Belt in field goal percentage (.457), 14th in rebounding (5.4 per game) and defensive rebounds per game (3.6).
• Sophomore Sierra Butler is 13th in the conference in overall rebounding (5.4 per game) and is 14th in the league in offensive boards with 2.2 per outing.
• Junior Alexis Sams remains second in the Sun Belt in minutes played, averaging 36.0 per contest. She is also now 12th in the league in three-pointers made per game (1.5), 13th in assists per game (2.6) and is 15th in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.328).
 
QUICK HITTERS
• Junior Patrice Butler is in the midst of a seven-game streak where she has scored in double-figures. In those games, she is averaging a team-best 15.7 points per game to go along with 5.1 rebounds and has been shooting a scorching .571 from the field over that span.
• During last Thursday's game against Appalachian State, Butler scored her 800th career collegiate point and enters the week with 802 total points spanning her collegiate career at both Furman and Georgia Southern. She also compliments that with 364 total rebounds between the two stops for an average of 10.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per outing.
• Senior Sierra Kirkland's 118 games played for Georgia Southern has her tied for fifth in program history for most games played. When she next takes the court for her 119th game, it will move her up into a tie for third with Anna Claire Knight (2011-15) and Samantha Williams (2008-12).
• Kirkland is also 17th in program history with 35 career blocks and 17th with 539 career rebounds.
• In last Monday's ESPN3 game against Georgia State, Angel McGowan tied her career-high of 7 steals. She first set the mark earlier this year at home against South Alabama.
• McGowan now has 147 career steals which has her 14th all-time in program history.
• McGowan is also six three-pointers away from 10th all-time in program history and is already ninth in Georgia Southern women's basketball history with 370 three-point attempts.
• If Alexis Sams continues to log the minutes she has all season, the junior will set a new school record for single-season minutes average. Sams averages 36.0 minutes per game heading in to the final week of the season. The current mark is held by Deb Blackshear (1988-89) with 34.2 minutes per game.
• Sams' 975 total minutes played this season has her currently sixth all-time for most minutes by a single player in a single season.
• Outside of logging plenty of minutes, Sams is one three-pointer away from 10th all-time for career three-pointers. She is also just six starts shy of the same mark in career games started.
 
THE HISTORY WITH UL MONROE
• Georgia Southern and UL Monroe have faced off just three times prior to Thursday's game with the Warhawks having claimed all three previous meetings.
• Last season in Monroe, ULM won 72-66 in overtime. In that game, Patice Butler led the Eagles in scoring with 23 points off 9-for-22 shooting from the field.
• For the 'Hawks, Sharnice Brooks led all scorers with 28 points, going 11-for-26 from the field. Brooks also had four blocks.
• Earlier this season in Statesboro, the Warhawks claimed a last-second, 50-49 win over the Eagles inside Hanner Fieldhouse when Daja Chase hit a contested jumper with barely a second left on the game clock.
• In that game, Butler once again led Georgia Southern in scoring, this time with 17 points. She went 6-for-11 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. She also corralled in a game-high nine rebounds.
• Alexis Sams was the second-leading scorer for GS as she finished the game with 11 points off 4-for-7 shooting in 39 minutes of work.
• While it was Chase who had the game-winner for ULM, Chelsea Tieuel led the way for the Warhawks with 20 points off 7-for-14 shooting, including four three-pointers.
 
SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS
• The Warhawks (10-17, 4-14) enter Thursday's game having won two of their last 10 games, including a six-game skid from February 2 through February 25. Most recently, the 'Hawks split a trip to Alabama, beating South Alabama 67-54 in Mobile before losing 74-64 at Troy.
• Alayshia Hunter is the leading scorer for ULM. She averages 16.3 points per game which has her currently fifth in the conference. Behind her, Chelsea Tieuel is 17th in the Sun Belt, averaging 11.2 points per game.
• Hunter is also fifth in the league with a .528 field goal percentage, seventh in rebounding (7.2 per game), tied for ninth in offensive rebounds per game (2.4) and 10th in free throw percentage (.714).
• Tieuel is fourth in the Sun Belt in three-point field goals made per game (2.1), seventh in the conference with a .724 free throw percentage and she is 10th in the league in three-point field goal percentage (.341).

NEXT UP
• Following Thursday's rivalry game in Monroe, the Eagles travel to Lafayette, Louisiana to close out the season at Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, Mar. 5. The Eagles and Ragin' Cajuns will tip off at 6 p.m. EST.


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.