Eagles take flight in exhibition

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  • Photo credit to Jerell Rushin

Jerell Rushin

The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team played their first game of the season Tuesday night in an exhibition match at Hanner Fieldhouse against the Coastal Georgia Mariners. The Eagles cruised to an impressive 96-44 win, led by seniors Patrice Butler and Angle McGowan.

The tone of the game was set from the very beginning, as the Eagles jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead. Starting forwards Sierra and Patrice Butler, the top two rebounders of the night, would dominate the boards early and often as they had 11 and 9 rebounds respectively. Georgia Southern outrebounded the Mariners 65-36.

Freshman Amira Atwater and junior Alexis Foulks would have strong performances off of the bench. Atwater was extremely efficient during her time on the court and had complete control of the offense, finishing with 14 points on 6-7 shooting in just 17 minutes. Head coach Kip Brown was able to give all 15 members of the team playing time.

The story of the game would be the Mariners inability to compete on the boards and keep up with the fast pace of the Eagles offense. The Eagles moved well without the ball in their hands, knocked down plenty of open shots and when they got to the foul line, they cashed in, shooting 68.4 percent on 19 attempts. McGowan was 7-8 from the line herself and finished with 16 points.

Coastal Georgia had trouble consistently scoring against the Eagles defense who forced 14 turnovers. Although the Mariners shot a paltry 16-65 from the field, a stronger opponent is almost sure to knock down some of the wide-open shots that the Mariners failed to.

Friday, Nov. 11, will mark the start of the regular season as the Eagles host North Carolina A&T who made the NCAA Tournament in March 2016. Tipoff will be 7 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse.