STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's basketball opened up the 2025-26 season in a big way on Monday evening at the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center, defeating Central Michigan by a 98-72 score in the MAC/SBC Challenge.

The Eagles (1-0) notched their biggest season-opening win against a Division I opponent in 32 years with the 26-point victory over the Chippewas (0-1). Georgia Southern defeated Charleston Southern, 77-49, back on December 4, 1993 to set the mark.

Georgia Southern raced out to a 12-4 lead in the game's first three minutes, then took a 42-32 lead at the break. The Eagles then exploded for 35 points in the third quarter - getting 13 points from Kishyah Anderson in the frame alone - to put the game out of reach. 

The Eagles shot 58.7% from the field (37-of-63), including hitting 13-of-24 three-pointers (54.2%), the most threes in a game for Georgia Southern since 2021 and only one off the school record of 14.

Central Michigan shot 50 percent from the field (28-of-56) but made just 1-of-7 threes on the night.

Five Eagles reached double figures, led by Destiny Garrett's 22 points in her Georgia Southern debut. McKenna Eddings had 20 points, while Anderson finished with 17 points, Jamiria Jones added 11 and Shanti Simmons chipped in 10.

Madi Morson hit 13-of-21 shots from the field for her game-high 31 points for the Chippewas.

Eagle of the Game
Garrett was within shooting distance of a triple-double in her first game as an Eagle, hitting 9-of-12 shots from the floor and 2-of-3 threes en route to her 22 points. She added nine assists and grabbed seven rebounds on the night in 36 minutes of action running the point.

Stat of the Game
The Eagles hit 13-of-15 shots from the field in the 35-point third quarter, including 3-of-4 threes and added six free throws, expanding a 10-point halftime lead to a 26-point lead, 77-51, heading into the fourth.

Quotables
Head coach Hana Haden on the offensive output tonight
"Really proud of the way our team played together tonight. When you shoot as high of a percentage as we did, it means that our team was taking really good shots. We said we wanted to make 10 threes a game and we were willing to take 30 shots to do it, but it took us only 24 to get 13. When our players shoot it like that, it impacts the game in so many ways."

Coach Haden on the defensive effort against the Chippewas
"Our team did a really good job of adjusting on the fly. There's a lot of things we want to clean up, but they threw some things at us that we were not prepared for them to do because they didn't do it last year."

Next Up
The Eagles hit the road for a 6 p.m. Thursday night contest at Florida State. It will be the first trip for the Eagles to Tallahassee since 2005-06.