SAN MARCOS, Texas - Alexis Brown scored a game-high 31 points and Georgia Southern put together a smothering defensive performance in recording a 65-55 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over host Texas State on Saturday afternoon at Strahan Arena.

The Eagles (6-13, 1-7 SBC) halted an eight-game slide with their first Sun Belt Conference win of the season, while Texas State (9-11, 4-4 SBC) suffered its fourth loss in its last five games.

Facing the league's top scorer in Toshua Leavitt (17.8 ppg) and a Bobcats team that ranks among the top of the league in three-point baskets, Georgia Southern forced 11 first-half turnovers by Texas State to take a 30-26 lead at the break.

Reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Alexis Brown had 18 points in the first half, while Leavitt was held scoreless by freshman Jordan Strange before intermission.

In the second half, the Eagles kept the Bobcats at arms length thanks to a seven-point third quarter from Alisha Owens, and Brown's 11-point fourth quarter sealed the deal for Georgia Southern.

Brown finished the day with 31 points to lead all scorers, while Hailey Dias-Allen added 10 points and eight rebounds. Da'Nasia Hood led Texas State with 21 points, while Kennedy Taylor chipped in 19.

Eagles of the Game
Brown hit 12-of-21 shots from the floor, including four three-pointers, to become one of just eight Georgia Southern women's basketball players in school history with multiple 30+ points games. Strange, meanwhile, limited the Sun Belt Conference's leading scorer to just 1-of-10 from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range in a three-point performance. 

Key Moment
Texas State used a 6-0 run to tie the game up at 32-all with 6:37 left in the third quarter, but a three-pointer from Strange sparked a 7-0 run and the Eagles never looked back in claiming their first win of the new year.

Stat of the Game
The Eagles forced 16 turnovers by Texas State, while only committing eight turnovers themselves. That led to a 15-6 edge in points off turnovers in favor of Georgia Southern.

Quotables
Head coach Kip Drown on the first Sun Belt win of the season
"One of the tough things iin collegiate athletics is fighting through adversity, but it's also one of the great things you learn. We didn't play that well Thursday, while UTA played great, and it was just a perfect storm. But to see our kids get on the bus, come down here to San Marcos, you could tell last night at practice and this morning at shootaround that there was a focus. And when you recruit character kids, character is always going to win out. We have character kids in the program. I told our team this week, 'I'm betting on your character that you are going to keep fighting.' AB made some big shots down the stretch, and the job Jordan did on Leavitt - with the help of all of her teammate - was outstanding. I couldn't be happier for our group of kids."

Alexis Brown on getting the win
"It means a lot because we've been talking about playing 40 minutes. I think tonight, we played for each other. We made it a goal coming into this game that we would play hard."

"When you're in a drought, like we were, you lose confidence. When you get a win, you get the mindset that you want to go get another one."

Jordan Strange on holding SBC leading scorer Toshua Leavitt to just three points
"I was just able to play tough defense on her. Every time she came off a screen, my teammates were there to help me out. It was a tough job but I was able to manage it."

Next Up
The Eagles return to Hanner Fieldhouse to host Georgia State on Saturday, February 2nd, at 2 p.m. in Sun Belt Conference action.