The Georgia Southern women’s basketball team (4-9, 1-3) was able to pull off a much needed win behind a tremendous defensive effort on Saturday in Mobile, Ala. The Eagles visited the South Alabama Jaguars (3-11, 0-5) and came out with a 67-53 victory after holding the Jaguars to a meager 27 percent shooting.

Sophomore forward/center Patrice Butler posted 17 points and added seven boards en route to the win. Following close behind her was senior guard Anna Claire Knight with 15 points and five rebounds in 32 minutes of play. Junior forward/center Briana Jones added nine points, five rebounds and three blocked shots on the night, while sophomore guard Angel McGowan was able to add 14 points to the total.

There was very good inside and outside scoring coming from the Eagles all night long. They were also able to move the ball very well in transition throughout the night. Using an attacking nature that has been absent thus far, the team was able to rack up numbers that sat at the top of the charts for the season. They went 43 percent from the floor, 70 percent from the 3-point line and 82 percent from the charity stripe. With more numbers like this, the Eagles could shock a number of teams.

“I’m really proud of our team because I think we’ve been making strides for the past couple of weeks and playing better and better,” Head Coach Chris Vozab said in a press release following the game. “I thought our kids believed in the improvements we’ve made over these first three conference games and today really put it all together and played with a confidence of the team we know we can become. I was really happy with the result today.”

The Eagles head back to Hanner Fieldhouse to face UL Lafayette on January 15 with a tipoff time of 5 p.m.