STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern women's basketball team picked up a 92-47 exhibition win over visiting Fort Valley State on Tuesday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles outmanned a short-handed Wildcat team that dressed just eight players for the exhibition. Georgia Southern used its size advantage to out-rebound the Division II squad from Fort Valley, Ga., by a 61-31 margin, including a 26-12 edge on the offensive glass.
Georgia Southern outscored the Wildcats,15-6, in the first quarter, then used a 14-0 run late in the second quarter to take a 39-17 lead into halftime. The Eagles found their long-range touch in the third quarter, hitting six three-pointers, to pull away for the 45-point victory.
"Two things we were a little disappointed in, particularly in the first half, were turnovers and fouls," Head Coach Kip Drown said. "We fouled five shooters in the first half. I thought in the second half we came back out strong, and I really thought it started with our post players passing the ball well. We were getting the ball in the middle of the zone and they were collapsing that. So we were kicking it, AB, Nakol, Trell all knocked down some threes there in the third quarter, but it all started with our post players."
The Eagles had 21 assists on their 37 field goals on the evening and placed three players in double figures. Senior Sierra Butler led all players with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and 2-of-5 from the free throw line, while adding 13 rebounds for the double-double. Sophomore Nakol Franks hit 4-of-5 three-pointers en route to 12 points, while Alexis Brown added 10 points on the night. Georgia Southern shot 36.6 percent from the floor in the first half, including just 25 percent from beyond the arc, but shot 55 percent from the floor in the second half, including 54 percent from three-point range.
"We needed that," Coach Drown said. "We needed to shoot the ball in the second half like we did. We still turned it over nine times [in the second half]. That's an area we are going to get better at. We're a very unselfish team, they want to pass the basketball, want to share it. But it's about decision making. I thought in the second half, Lex Foulks, CB made some nice easy passes, good decisions and got us some great looks."
Fort Valley State also placed three players in double figures, led by Nola Carter's 13 points. Alicia Franklin and Chantelle Rumph each added 10 points on the night. Georgia Southern forced 23 turnovers by the Wildcats and held FVSU to just 27.6 percent shooting from the floor (16-of-58), including just 5-of-21 from three-point range (23.8 percent).
The Eagles will open up the 2017-18 regular season on Friday, November 10th, visiting North Carolina A&T for a 5 p.m. non-conference contest in Greensboro, N.C.
