BOONE, N.C. -  Appalachian State University women's basketball (8-17, 5-11 SBC) will make the trek to Statesboro, Ga. for a Thursday clash against archrival Georgia Southern (7-19, 4-13 SBC)  at 5 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse on ESPN3.

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@AppStateWBB at  @GSAthletics | February 25th | 5 p.m.  | Statesboro, Ga. | Hanner Fieldhouse
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About the Mountaineers

Last Time Out
Appalachian mounted a 22-point comeback to eventually take a one-point lead before forcing overtime, but fell to Troy, 100-89. Joi Jones scored a career-high 22 points while Madi Story notched her second double-double of her career with 19 points and a career-high 12 boards.

Race for Eighth
With four games left in the regular season, the race for eighth is tight with 1.5 games separating App State, Georgia Southern and Georgia State. The Mountaineers are in the eighth and final spot heading into Thursday's contest against the Eagles. Georgia State is 1/2 game back of App State while Georgia Southern is 1.5 game behind the Mountaineers.

An App State Win Would
• Snap a four-game losing streak while also breaking a three-game losing streak on the road.

• Improve the Mountaineers' record to 9-17 and 6-11 in the Sun Belt.

• Give Appalachian its third win of February, surpassing last month's win total.

• Hand Georgia Southern its sixth loss in a row.

• Drop the Eagles to 7-20 and 4-14 in conference action.

• Keep the eighth spot in the Sun Belt standings.

• Improve to 20-36 all time against its archrival

• Give App State its fourth win in the past five contests at Georgia Southern.  

Who's Hot
• Jones and Story has provided the scoring load for the Mountaineers, as the duo is scoring 29.6 ppg combined over the last four games despite the losing streak, equaling 42.7 percent of the team's output.

• Jones is averaging 16.8 ppg on 46.8 percent shooting from  the field while grabbing 7.3 rpg. In the overtime setback to Troy on Saturday, the junior dropped a career-high 22 points.

• Story collected her second double-double of her career with 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.The sophomore guard played a pivotal role in the Mountaineers' comeback, scoring all of her points in the second half and overtime.

• Kaila Craven busted out of her mini-scoring slump with 12 points on Saturday after scoring just two points in the previous two contests. Craven started the second half and scored all nine of her second-half points in the third quarter.  

Five Things to Watch at Georgia Southern
• Story is averaging 14.0 ppg over the past three contests while 69 percent (9.7 ppg - 29 points) of her points have come in the second half of those games. See if she can get off to a faster start against Georgia Southern.

• App State scored a whopping 61 points in second half and overtime against Troy. Watch if Appalachian puts on that type of display to start the contest against a Georgia Southern squad that allows its most points in the opening period.

• The defense hasn't fared well when defending the 3-point line over the past four games, allowing opponents to shoot 38.6 percent from beyond the arc. Georgia Southern made eight treys and shot 42.1 percent from long distance in the first meeting. Anticipate on App State to do a better job of defending the arc.

• Patrice Butler scored 17 points while Alexis Sams scored 10 for Georgia Southern in the first meetin of the season, well above their season averages of 12.5 and 6.6, respectively. Watch if App State can contain from the Georgia Southern supporting cast going off.

• Appalachian scored just 14 points in the paint (30.1 average) in the earlier contest vs. Georgia Southern. See if the Black and Gold can establish a dominant presence this time around.

Scouting Georgia Southern (7-19, 4-13 SBC)

• Georgia Southern is on a five-game losing streak after falling to rival Georgia State in the final seconds in a one-point loss, 61-60.

• The Eagles are 1.5 GB App State for the eighth and final seed in the Sun Belt tournament

• Georgia Southern has dropped seven of its last eight home games as well.

• Angel McGowan (14.8 ppg) and Patrice Butler (12.5 ppg) lead the team in scoring.

• Sierra Butler pulls down a team-high 5.5 rpg while Alexis Sams dishes out a team-best 2.6 apg.

• The Eagles are one of four teams in the Sun Belt with at least 100-made 3-pointers and are fourth in the conference in 3's made per game.

• Georgia Southern took a 36-19 advantage in the all-time series after defeating App State, 65-50, on Jan. 25.

• The App State offense shot just 28.8 percent from the floor while the Eagles shot 45.8 percent.

•  App State has had some success recently on the Eagles' home floor, winning three out of the past four contests.

Up Next: Georgia State (10-16, 5-12 SBC)

The Apps will conclude the road schedule against the Panthers on Saturday at 12 p.m.