STATESBORO - Georgia Southern tuned up for its 2021-22 season opener by downing Allen University, 111-56, in exhibition action on Thursday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Eagles raced out to a 35-13 lead after the first quarter as 11 different Georgia Southern players dented the scoreboard in the opening period. The lead stretched to 62-24 at halftime as Georgia Southern forced 20 turnovers by the Yellow Jackets in the first half alone.

Georgia Southern reached the century mark with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter on a Thaniya Marks free throw and finished the contest hitting 43-of-81 shots from the floor for 53%.

Six different Eagles reached double figures in the contest, led by Lydia Freeman's 14 points. Eden Johnson notched 13 points, while Rachel Johnson and Daeja Holmes each collected 11 points. Tsubasa Nisbet and Simone James chipped in 10 points apiece. Javda Jackson led Allen, an NCAA Division II school from Columbia, S.C., with 13 points on the night.

Eagle of the Game 
Sophomore Lydia Freeman registered the game's only double-double, hitting 7-of-10 shots from the floor for her 14 points while adding a game-high 13 rebounds - seven offensive. She also blocked a shot in 19 minutes of action.

Stat of the Game
Georgia Southern finished the contest forcing 34 turnovers and enjoying a staggering 51-11 advantage in points off of turnovers. The Eagles notched 24 steals as well.

Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the tune-up before next week's regular season opener
"It was good to shake off the jitters by playing an actual game, and Hanner was absolutely phenomenal with the fans that showed up tonight for our exhibition. We now have some film to go over, where we can break down some areas of improvement heading into our opener at Auburn. We got to see some different combinations. The pace of play and how much we shared the ball with 24 assists were some positives we could take away from tonight."

Next Up
Georgia Southern will open up the 2021-22 regular season on Thursday, November 11, taking on SEC foe Auburn at 8 p.m. ET in Auburn, Ala.