LAFAYETTE, La. – Saturday night's season finale at the University of Louisiana Lafayette did not go as the Georgia Southern women's basketball team had hoped it would. The Eagle women entered the game hoping to replicate last season's final game where they went on the road and claimed a win at in-state rival Georgia State. However, the Eagles were unable to get much going on offense early in the game Saturday and ultimately fell 56-47 to the Ragin' Cajuns in the final Sun Belt Conference game of the year.
 
Seniors Briana Jones and Sierra Kirkland wrapped up their distinguished careers with the blue and white scoring two and five points and logged 31 combined minutes. Kirkland ends her four-year career having played in 120 games, tying her for second all-time in GS history for most games played. She will also leave her mark in the record book in rebounds and blocked shots while Jones wraps up her career third all-time in blocked shots.
 
One of the high points of the game was junior Angel McGowan scoring her 1,000^th career point with a free throw with 13 seconds left in the game. McGowan led all scorers with 19 total points and will enter her senior year with the monkey off her back as far as reaching 1,000 points goes. The Greenville, S.C. native went 6-for-13 from the field, including hitting three three-pointers, and led the Eagles with six rebounds in 32 minutes of work.
 
Also finishing the night in double-figures was fellow junior Patrice Butler. Butler extended her streak of games scoring in double-digits to nine as she registered 12 points to go along with four rebounds in 28 minutes of work.
 
Alexis Sams set a school record as she finished the year averaging 36.0 minutes per game, shattering the previous mark of 34.2 minutes per game set by Deb Blackshear during the 1988-89 season. Sams' 1,045 total minutes played this season was good enough for second-all time for most minutes played in a single season and were just nine shy of the most minutes played set by MiMi DuBose during the 2012-13 campaign.
 
As a team, the Eagles (7-22, 4-16) ended the game shooting 38.6% (17-44) from the field after struggling mightily in the first quarter where they hit on just two of their first nine attempts (22.2%). GS also had trouble holding onto the ball as the Eagle women turned the ball over 18 times, including 13 in the first half alone.
 
For Louisiana (20-9, 13-7), the win marks the first time in school history that the Ragin' Cajuns will finish with at least 20 wins in back-to-back campaigns. ULL also locked up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Championships in New Orleans and will play the No. 6 seed, UT Arlington in the opening round of the tournament.
 
Seniors Keke Veal and Kia Wilridge celebrated their "Senior Night" by leading the way in scoring for the Ragin' Cajuns. Veal scored 17 points off 8-for-16 shooting (50.0%) while Wilridge netted 12 while going 5-for-9 from the field (55.6%). Wilridge also led the way with seven rebounds. ULL finished the game shooting 39.3% (24-61) from the field and out-rebounded the Eagles 56-30.

THE STORY
The opening quarter progressed very slowly as neither team seemed able to get much going in the way of offense. Veal scored the first four points of the game for Louisiana before McGowan was able to put GS on the board nearly two minutes in. From there, the Eagles were able to knot the score twice, but could never find the go-ahead points needed.
 
After a first quarter that saw the two teams separated by just three points at 9-6, the Ragin' Cajuns turned up the heat and out-scored Georgia Southern 22-12 over the next 10 minutes to take a 31-18 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Out of the intermission, it was all Louisiana as they forced another eight turnovers in the third quarter and out-scored the Eagles 18-9. Georgia Southern was only able to out-score the Ragin' Cajuns 20-7 in the final quarter as the Eagles shot 54.5% (6-11) from the field in the stanza, including receiving four treys from McGowan, Sams and freshman Rhein Beamon.
 
QUOTABLES FROM COACH DROWN
"It is a real honor to be here at Georgia Southern with its rich tradition and pride. The fans and Eagle Nation have been so welcoming to Gina and I, and the administration has been great all the way from the top of on down. We are going to get better. We are going to put together a good product here and I know people look at our record now and it's not where we want to be. But at the same time, I feel like we made good strides this season and are moving in the right direction. It's just going to take patience and we are going to get it done here."
 
On Angel scoring her 1,000^th career point
"I'm just really proud of her. The biggest thing that I am proud of her for is that it was difficult for her to find her niche in our offense early in the season. But she stayed with it and has worked really hard all season, just like the rest of the team, and I really appreciate the growth that she has had in our offense. She's a target and other teams are going to go after her because they know that she can score. She got a little banged up there in the first half tonight and despite taking everyone's best shot at defending her and neutralizing her, she still has found ways to score. And that is what great scorers and players do. I'm just really excited that we get her back for another year and that she's someone we can build around for next year along with our other juniors and returners."
 
On what Briana Jones and Sierra Kirkland meant to him in his first season
"It was really hard in the lock room tonight following the game telling Bri-J, Sie Kirk and Brooklyn Cartwright, our manager, good-bye. All three have meant so much to this program during their time in Statesboro. I can't say it enough, though, both Briana and Sierra, right from the beginning back in April when I arrived, stepped up and filled a void and took leadership of this team. They really helped me get a feel for where we were at as a team. They did what real leaders do and that was they saw a situation that they thought needed to be addressed and they stepped up and dealt with it. I just wish we could have had a chance to get them to New Orleans and have a chance to play in the tournament and experience all of that. But when we go in the future, they will be there in spirit and will be a part of that because of what they did this year and throughout their careers to help us get started here."


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