The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team is gearing up for action in their next 16 games of Sun Belt conference play.

The Eagles opened up conference play over the winter break going 1-3 overall and 1-1 at home. The next five games of the 16 left of conference play could be make or break for the eagles. The Eagles are currently on a four-game homestand with two games left to play against UL Lafayette and UL Monroe. Going up against UL Lafayette will be the ultimate test for GSU, as they are the number two team in the division. The key matchup to watch will be GSU guard Angel McGowan who is averaging 18 points in conference play and UL Lafayette leading scorer Keke Veal with 16.6 points per game for the season. The eagles will be counting on their leading scorer, McGowan, who has been on a tear as of late averaging 20 or more points in the last three of four games.

After the GSU vs Troy game over the break, McGowan gave credit to head coach Kip Drown for her improvement.

“Well coach talked to me about making better decisions and taking what the defense is giving me. I get more confidence in trying to do what I can for my team,” Guard McGowan said.

The last game of the four-game stretch should be very interesting going up against UL Monroe. In their first meeting last season the Eagles lost to UL Monroe in overtime and GSU forward Patrice Butler scored 23 points and gathered six rebounds.

Moving forward after UL Monroe the Eagles will be going back on the road to play a game against their rival, the Georgia State Panthers. The Eagles split a pair of games last season against the panthers losing at home in the first meeting 54-82. However, in the second meeting the Eagles finished off their last game of the season to beat State 82-74 in an away game. In that meeting the Eagles had three players in double figures, with guard Angel McGowan scoring a game high 25 points and Patrice Butler added on 21 more points.

Eagles head coach Drown feels confident about his bunch and spoke highly of their conference play ahead after their Troy game last Saturday.

“The aggressiveness is getting better, I think we are competing better and after Arlington game that was my biggest disappointment. We didn’t go after them, we didn’t play them hard and if we go after them and we come every night and compete with them, we will keep getting better as a basketball team. We’re getting better as a basketball team and if you saw us back in November till now, I think everybody will say were improving,” Coach Drown said.

Over the next two games, Southern will come up against App State and Little Rock. The Eagles went 0-4 combined against both teams last season, but this season the ball club is different with a new coach and improved players. The numbers show improvement as the eagles are only half way through the season sitting at an overall record of 4-9, 1-3 in conference, and that almost matches their entire record from last seasons 5-24 overall and 2-18 in conference.

The game tonight against UL Lafayette will take place at Hanner Fieldhouse and start at 5 p.m.