Panthers Return Home to Host Coastal Carolina Thursday

GEORGIA STATE vs. COASTAL CAROLINA
Feb. 10 • 6 p.m. • GSU Sports Arena

TICKETS: GeorgiaStateSports.com/Tix
COVERAGE: ESPN+

THE TIPOFF

• Georgia State returns home to host Coastal Carolina Thursday at 6 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena, in a game that will air on ESPN+.

• The Panthers have played five of their last six games at home but are now playing their final two home games of the season. After Saturday's home finale vs. Appalachian State, they will finish the regular season with four straight road games.

• Coastal Carolina won the first meeting this season, 75-51, on Jan. 8 in Conway, S.C., but the Panthers played that game after a three-week layoff and were without top scorer Ashley Foster and several other key players. Georgia State has won three of the last four against the Chanticleers.

• GSU has played four straight close games. The Panthers downed Georgia Southern on a last-second shot and then defeated South Alabama in overtime before falling to Troy and at Georgia Southern, but in both losses, the game was tied in the final six minutes.

• Deasia Merrill's last-second shot lifted Georgia State to a 58-56 over Georgia Southern. The Panthers the entire way until a 3-pointer by the Eagles tied the game at 56-all with 26 seconds left. With the clock running down, Georgia State point guard Tehya Lyons found Kamryn Dziak in the corner. Dziak missed the 3-pointer, but Merrill ripped the rebound away from Georgia Southern's Mya Burns, and her short jumper from the baseline was good for the victory.

• In the 72-66 overtime win against South Alabama, Georgia State led most of the game before the Jaguars forced overtime with a 3-pointer with just one second left in regulation. But the Panthers quickly regained control in the extra period as Hannah Sadler (8 points), Alex Gitchenko (5 points) and Tehya Lyons (4 points) combined to outscore the Jags 17-11.

• Ashley Foster leads GSU in scoring (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (4.1 rpg), and she is second on the team in assists (2.0 pg) and steals (1.5 pg). She has reached double figure scoring 10 times this season, including a career-high 19 points at Florida to open the season.

• Kamryn Dziak leads the team with 31 3-pointers this season, ranking third in the Sun Belt in 3-point percentage (.352) and fourth with treys per game. The junior from Amherst, Ohio, has 94 3-pointers for her career, good for 10th place in school history.

• Hannah Sadler has hit 10-of-15 field goals over the last three games, averaging 8.3 points in that stretch. In the overtime win over South Alabama, she was 6-for-7 from the field to score 12 points, including eight points in overtime.

• Freshman Alex Gitchenko has averaged 7.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists over the last three games.

• Georgia State has used nine different starting lineups, with 10 different players starting at least one game. No Panther has started every game, and only two (Kamryn Dziak and Alyssa Phillip) have played in every game.

SERIES NOTES vs. COASTAL CAROLINA

• Georgia State has won three of the last four games against Coastal Carolina, with three victories last season. The Panthers swept CCU at Conway, 73-55 and 76-65, and then won 73-68 in Atlanta. The Chanticleers broke that streak with a 75-51 win in Conway on Jan. 8.

• Coastal Carolina holds an 8-5 lead in the series, which began in 1992-93. Since both teams began competing as Sun Belt Conference foes, the Chanticleers lead 7-4.

• Taniyah Worth averaged 16.8 points in the three wins over Coastal last season, scoring 17, 16 and 16 in the three contests.

• Head coach Gene Hill is 3-4 against Coastal Carolina.

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