Sun Belt Play Opens Saturday at Coastal Carolina

Game 13: GEORGIA STATE (6-6, 0-0 SBC) at COASTAL CAROLINA (11-2, 1-1 SBC)
Jan. 8 • 2 p.m. • HTC Center • Conway, S.C. • TV: ESPN+

THE TIPOFF

• Georgia State opens Sun Belt Conference play at Coastal Carolina Saturday in a 2 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+.

• The Panthers (6-6, 0-0 Sun Belt) have been idle since defeating Charleston Southern 55-50 on Dec. 19 at the GSU Sports Arena. Ashley Foster led GSU in that win with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Elexus Bell added 11 points off the bench.

• Coastal Carolina defeated Georgia Southern 72-69 Thursday and is off to 11-2 start (1-1 Sun Belt), including a 9-1 mark at home.

• Georgia State enters Sun Belt Conference play after one of its most successful Sun Belt seasons. Posting a 9-7 record, the 2020-21 Panthers earned the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt East Division, GSU's first No. 2 conference seed since 2001 in the Atlantic Sun. The Panthers' nine Sun Belt wins were their second-most since joining the league in 2013-14, bettered only by 11 victories in 2018-19 in Gene Hill's first season at the helm.

• Ashley Foster leads GSU in scoring at 11.3 ppg. She scored a career-high 19 points at Florida to open the season and has reached double figures in seven games, including a 17-point performance vs. Florida A&M. She is the only Panther who has started all 12 games.

SERIES NOTES vs. COASTAL CAROLINA

• Georgia State has won three in a row over Coastal Carolina, but the Chanticleers hold a 7-5 lead in the series, which began in 1992-93. Since both teams began competing as Sun Belt Conference foes, Coastal Carolina leads 6-4.

• Georgia State swept three games against CCU last season. The Panthers won twice at Conway, 73-55 and 76-65, and then won 73-68 in a single game in Atlanta.

• Taniyah Worth averaged 16.8 points against Coastal last season, scoring 17, 16 and 16 in the three contests. Moriah Taylor scored 11 points in each of the two meetings in Conway.

• Head coach Gene Hill is 3-3 against Coastal Carolina.

MORE ON THE PANTHERS

• The Panthers return five players who started 10 or more games last season. The key returners for GSU include Taniyah Worth (8.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Hannah Sadler (8.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg), Tehya Lyons (6.1 ppg, 46 assists), and Kam Dziak (5.0 ppg, 30 3FG made).

• The Panthers recorded winning seasons in two of the last three years under head coach Gene Hill, including a 13-11 mark in 2020-21.

• GSU returns 10 players overall and welcomes five newcomers. Head coach Gene Hill, in his fourth season, also welcomed a new assistant coach in the offseason, Roddreka Rogers.

• Of the 15 Panthers on this year's roster, eight are from Georgia, two from Alabama, two from Florida, one from Maryland, one from Ohio, and one from Israel.

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