STATESBORO - Senior Terren Ward notched a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while juniors Zaria Johnson and Torrion Starks each debuted with 16 points in a 103-49 season-opening win for Georgia Southern women's basketball over Allen University on Wednesday evening at Hanner Fieldhouse.

The Eagles (1-0) took a 42-25 lead at the break, but exploded for 30 points in the third quarter, outscoring the Yellow Jackets by a 30-10 margin in the period. Georgia Southern then eclipsed the 100-point mark on a pair of free throws by Starks with 1:20 left to go in the fourth quarter. It's the seventh 100+ point game for the Eagles in the Anita Howard era.

Georgia Southern dominated the Division II school from Columbia, S.C., in the paint, outpointing Allen by a 60-22 margin and outrebounding the squad 63-46. The 63 rebounds are tied for the fourth-most in a single game in Eagle history.

Ward led a quartet of Eagles in double figures with her 21 points, while Starks and Zaria Johnson were joined in double digits by senior Simone James, who hit 6-of-7 shots from the floor for 12 points. Allen was led on the evening by Kashay Hankerson's 12 points and Taliah Wesley's 11 points.

Eagle of the Game
Ward notched her 19th career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but also added three blocked shots, two assists and two steals on the evening. She hit 3-of-8 three-pointers and 21 points gives her 1,133 in her career, moving her past Patrice Butler (2014-17, 1,131 points) into 18th on the Georgia Southern all-time scoring chart.

Stat of the Game
The Eagles forced 32 turnovers by the Yellow Jackets, and turned that into 46 points on the evening.

Quotables
Head Coach Anita Howard on the season-opening win against the Yellow Jackets
"I'm glad we got the monkey off our back. Shout out to Allen, I thought they competed extremely well in the first half. It gave us some competition that we needed to see early on. It also showed us some details that we need to fine tune, but we needed this film to see where we are at. Pleased to see us turn it up in the second half a notch. We didn't get comfortable going into halftime, and then the rebounds. To finish with 63 rebounds is a real positive."

Next Up
The Eagles will host Eastern Michigan (0-1) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the MAC/SBC Challenge at Hanner Fieldhouse.