Women's Basketball | 2/15/2017 11:14:00 AM

2016-17 GS WBB Quick Facts (PDF)
2016-17 GS WBB Media Guide (PDF)
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STATESBORO, Ga. –  The Georgia Southern women's basketball team (11-13, 7-6 SBC) will host their final two home games of the year inside of Hanner Fieldhouse this weekend. The Eagles will tip off the weekend against UT Arlington (16-6, 9-3 SBC) on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. On Saturday, GS will celebrate four seniors during Senior Day, and play host to Texas State (13-10, 8-4 SBC) at 2 p.m.

THURSDAY GAME SNAPSHOT
Georgia Southern vs. UT Arlington
Thursday, Feb. 16   |  7:00 p.m. EST   |  Hanner Fieldhouse (Statesboro, Ga.)
Live Video |   Live Stats   |   Live Audio (GS Sports Network) 

PROMOTIONS

• Throwback Thursday - Fans can submit their favorite oldies songs to be played at the game.
• Thirsty Thursday - Free Coke products for students
• Halftime - Cheerleaders Demo Routine

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS (Twitter - @LadyMavHoops)
Georgia Southern and UT Arlington will be meeting for the first time this season. Last season the two teams met twice in Sun Belt match ups, with Georgia Southern taking the loss both times. The first game ended in a blow out of 70-31, but the Eagles kept it interesting the second time around, pushing it into overtime and ending with a final score of 53-41. The Mavericks hold an overall 4-0 record over Georgia Southern.

Head Coach Krista Gerlich is going into her third season at the helm of the Mavericks program. Under her guidance UTA has earned two consecutive trips to the Sun Belt Conference Championship tournament, as well as receiving an invitation to the 2015 Women's Preseason National Invitation Tournament. Prior to joining UTA in 2013, Gerlich spent seven seasons as the head coach at West Texas A&M University compiling an impressive record of 168-53 during her time there.

The Mavericks have started their campaign 16-6 overall and 9-3 in conference play. UTA is currently tied with Troy for second place in the conference. The Mavericks are averaging 69.2 points per game, while holding their opponents to 60.4 points. UTA enters Thursday's game shooting .414% (547-1320) from the field and averaging six 3-pointers per game. The Mavericks have forced 16.8 turnovers per game, but have turned the ball over 21.9 times per game themselves.

Rebekah VanDijk leads the Mavericks in scoring with 16.4 points per game, and a total of 360 points on the year. VanDijk has shot .569% (141-248) from the field, and also leads the team with 200 total. Another team leader is junior guard Cierra Johnson, who averages 11.8 points per game and a total of 248 points on the year. Johnson also leads the team in minutes played, averaging a total of 30 minutes per game. From 3-point range Crystal Allen leads the Mavericks by averaging 1.4 per game.

2016-17 UT Arlington Roster
2016-17 UT Arlington Schedule
2016-17 UT Arlington Statistics

SATURDAY GAME SNAPSHOT
Georgia Southern vs. Texas State
Saturday, Feb. 18   |  2:00 p.m. EST   |   Hanner Fieldhouse (Statesboro, Ga.)
Live Video |   Live Stats   |   Live Audio (GS Sports Network) 

PROMOTIONS

• Women's Basketball Senior Day - Join us as we honor the senior players for their hard work and determination in the classroom and on the court.
• Women's Basketball Alumni Day - All women's basketball alumni are invited back for a fun weekend!
• Cheerleader for a Day - Any child ages 4 to 14 has the opportunity to spend the day with the GS Cheerleading team. Participants will learn cheers, chants and important cheerleading skills from the very best, our own five-time National Champion Georgia Southern Eagle Cheerleaders.
• Halftime of the Women's Game - Enjoy a special performance from our Cheerleader for a Day participants.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS (Twitter - @TXStateWBB)
This Saturday the Eagles will close out their home stand in a conference match against the Bobcats. This will be the first time this season these teams are meeting. Last season both teams went 1-1 against each other, keeping the match ups close with scores of 56-61 and78-64, Bobcats taking the first game and Eagles taking the second. The two teams have met in women's basketball history a total of four times, with Texas State owning a 3-1 record over Georgia Southern.

Head coach Zenarae Antoine is in her sixth season with Texas State. In her first season, she led one of the best turnarounds in school history, taking a 9-20 team the year before to 17-14 including the school's first conference tournament win since 2003. She also led the Bobcats to back-to-back appearances in the WBI Tournament in 2014 and 2015. As a coach Antonine has reached the postseason a total of seven times, going to the NCAA Tournament twice along with three WNIT appearances, and has also had two WBI Tournament appearances.

Texas State will play at Georgia State Thursday night, coming in on a three-game winning streak. The Bobcats currently hold a 13-10 overall record and are 8-4 in Sun Belt play, putting the team in fourth place behind UT Arlington. The Bobcats enter Thursday's game coming off a big 64-47 win against No. 1 Little Rock, snapping the Trojan's 12-game winning streak. Texas State currently holds Little Rock to their only conference loss this season. The Bobcats have been averaging 57.8 points per game, while giving up the same amount to their opponents. They come into the weekend shooting 22.2% (510-1293) from the field and average 5.7 3-pointers per game.

Taeler Deer is the team leader in scoring, averaging 10.7 points per game and earning a total of 246 points on the year. Deer has shot .488% (99-203) from the field, and averages 24.5 minutes per game. Another leader in points for the Bobcats is Toshua Leavitt who totals 8.7 points per game and has 200 points on the year. She also leads the team in minutes played, averaging 26 minutes per game. Junior forward Ti'Aira Pitts is the only player on the team who has started in all 23 games for the Bobcats, totaling 21.4 minutes per game and averaging 3.4 rebounds per game. 

2016-17 Texas State Roster
2016-17 Texas State Schedule
2016-17 Texas State Statistics

LAST TIME OUT (W, 65-62 vs. Coastal Carolina)
The Georgia Southern women's basketball team (11-13, 7-6 SBC) defeated the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (9-14, 4-9 SBC) in a hard fought battle inside of the HTC Center on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles and Chants fought it out until the final seconds, but a phenomenal fourth quarter by GS lifted the Eagles to a 65-62 win over Coastal Carolina. 

Standout freshman Alexis Brown and Nakol Franks highlighted the Eagles win. Brown led the team with 15 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Franks collected 14 points herself, eight of which were scored within the final two minutes of the game. Patrice Butler collected eight points and a team-high 13 rebounds, and her sister Sierra tacked on nine points on the day. 

Ced Gibson led the Chanticleers with 22 points, five rebounds and six assists. Kennedy Archer contributed 14 points, and Naheria Hamilton scored ten. Alexis Robinson led the Chants from down low with eight rebounds.

NEXT UP
The Eagles will hit the road next weekend for their Arkansas Sun Belt swing. The Eagles will face off against the leading team in the Sun Belt, Little Rock, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23 and then travel to Jonesboro to play Arkansas State at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25.


The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your our ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

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. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by visiting GSEagles.com/Tickets.