Women's Basketball | 3/4/2016 11:46:00 AM

Georgia Southern (7-21, 4-15) at UL Lafayette (19-9, 12-7)
Saturday, Mar. 5 – Cajundome (11,550) – 6 p.m. EST

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

Last Meeting: 1/14/16 – L, 39-56 (Statesboro, Ga.)
Overall: ULL leads, 3-0
In Statesboro: ULL leads, 2-0
In Lafayette: ULL leads, 1-0
Current Streak: ULL – 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 Lafayette Information:
[Roster] [Schedule] [Season Stats] [@RaginCajunsWBB]

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 an eight-game streak where she has scored in double-figures. In those games, she is averaging a team-best 15.3 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 entered the week with 802 total points spanning her collegiate career at both Furman and Georgia Southern. She has 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 119 games played for Georgia Southern has her tied for third in program history for most games played. When she next takes the court for her 120th and final game, it will move her up into a tie for second with Ashley Melson (2005-09).
• 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 150 career steals which has her 14th all-time in program history.
• McGowan is also four three-pointers away from 10th all-time in program history and is already seventh in Georgia Southern women's basketball history with 380 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 36.1 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' 1012 total minutes played this season has her currently third 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 five starts shy of the same mark in career games started.
 
THE HISTORY WITH UL LAFAYETTE
• Saturday's regular-season finale with Louisiana will be the fourth meeting between Louisiana and Georgia Southern. The Ragin' Cajuns have won all three previous meetings between the two programs.
• Last season in Lafayette, the Ragin' Cajuns won 62-35. In that game, the Eagles utilized 13 different players with Angel Mcgowan, Sierra Kirkland and Patrice Butler leading the scoring charge with six points each. Kirkland and Butler both went 3-for-6 from the field and Butler led the team with seven rebounds.
• For the Ragin' Cajuns, Keke Veal was the leading scorer with 20 points while Kia Wilridge added 12.
• In the meeting earlier this season, Louisiana claimed a 56-39 win over the Eagles inside Hanner Fieldhouse. In that game, Alexis Sams was the leading scorer for GS as she finished her 37 minutes of work with 12 points off 5-for-7 shooting, including going 2-for-4 from beyond the three-point arc. Sierra Butler was the second-leading scorer for the Eagles, finishing with nine points and seven rebounds.
• For Louisiana, it was Wilridge leading the way with 17 points off 8-for-13 shooting from the floor. Behind her, Jaylyn Gordon finished with 15 points and Breionne Cooper just missed out on a double-double with 13 rebounds and eight points.
 
SCOUTING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
• Entering Thursday's game, Louisiana (18-9, 11-7) has locked up a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and is currently third in the league standings. However, the Ragin' Cajuns enter the week having lost their last two games, three of their last five and five of their last seven.
• As a team, Louisiana is second in the Sun Belt in scoring margin (+7.0) and is in the top five in both scoring offense (63.6 points per game, fifth-best) and scoring defense (56.6 points per game, third-best).
• Louisiana is also fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (.411) and steals (8.4 per game) and is fifth in offensive rebounds (12.7 per contest).
• The Ragin' Cajuns are led on offense by Keke Veal, the league's fourth-best scorer averaging 16.9 points per game entering the week. She is also sixth in the league in free throw percentage (.724).
• Behind Veal, Kia Wilridge is 14th in the Sun Belt in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game. Wilridge is 10th in the league in assists per outing (2.8) and defensive rebounds per game (4.0) and is 18th in overall rebounding (5.1 boards per game).
• Simone Fields is seventh in the conference in field goal percentage (.506) as well as offensive rebounds (2.5 per game).


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.