STATESBORO – Brooke Holle scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Texas State shot 69 percent from the field in the third quarter to down Georgia Southern 81-56 Thursday evening in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Amira Atwater tallied 12 points, five assists and three rebounds to lead the Eagles (3-16, 0-8), who lost their 13th straight game. Alexis Brown collected 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Nakol Franks registered nine points and seven rebounds. Hailey Dias-Allen chipped in nine points and six boards.

Holle was 8 of 11 from the floor and 5 of 7 from 3-point range for Texas State (13-7, 6-3). Toshua Leavitt, who is on pace to break the NCAA record for made 3-pointers in a season, scored 12 and made three triples, one under her average, as the Bobcats knocked down 10 of 22 as a team. Ti'Aria Pitts and Taeler Deer each scored 13, and Deer dished out 10 assists and snared seven boards.

Leading 40-34 at halftime, Texas State outscored Georgia Southern 29-7 in the third period to pull away. Holle netted 10 to lead the Bobcats, and the Eagles made just 3 of 16 from the field and committed five turnovers in the quarter.

"We played an outstanding shooting team, and you have to try to take away something," said Georgia Southern coach Kip Drown. "We tried to take away Leavitt, and some other kids stepped up and made some shots for them. I thought Trell did a good job limiting her looks and really did a nice job on her, and I was hoping to hold her to four and we held her under that."

Texas State jumped out to a 13-1 lead in the first three minutes of the game as Leavitt drained two 3-pointers. The Eagles tightened up the defense and held the Bobcats without a field goal for 3:41 while using a 13-2 spurt to get right back in the contest. Brown scored five points during the stretch, and Rhein Beamon added three free throws. The teams traded runs throughout the rest of the first half, and Texas State led 40-34 at the break. 

"Our kids battled and got back in it, and we started making some shots," said Drown. "We played one of our best halves of the year. I accentuated a lot of positives to our kids after the game, and I felt like there's a lot of positive things we did. One was turnovers – we only had 10 - and another was offensive rebounds – we had 14 and they had 11. I'm getting tired of saying it, and I know people are getting tired of hearing it, but we just have to make shots."

Drown announced tonight the dismissal of senior forward Sierra Butler from the team. Coach Drown and the team will have no further public comment on the situation.

The Eagles play host to UTA Saturday at 2 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse. Promotions: Blue Out, Free glow sticks (while they last), Basketball recreation teams from the Statesboro-Bulloch Parks and Recreation Department will play at halftime.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.