GSU HEADS TO FLORIDA FOR FINAL Non-CONFERENCE GAMES
 
   Georgia State (3-4) will return to action after a two-week layoff with final exams and semester break. The Panthers last played on Sat., Dec. 5 and will now play the final two non-conference games in the Stetson Hatter Classic in DeLand, Fla.   

   GSU travels to Florida on Dec. 18 and will have the opportunity to enjoy the school's first Bowl game in Orlando at the Cure Bowl in the Citrus Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 19. Then, the Panthers will play Sunday against Bethune-Cookman and Monday against host Stetson.  Georgia State comes in having won two of its last three games.

    This unusual season with nine new players has seen the team start 10 different players and play all 13 that have dressed out so far as evaluation time is underway. And, that number of starters is probably not done yet. No player has started all seven games. Ten players have logged more than 10 minutes a game average as the coaches evaluate. This trip provides another opportunity to blend in new players. The coaches will finalize what shape the roster is in for the 20 Sun Belt Conference games that begin on Dec. 30.

    Orlando native Astaja Tyghter will be back in familiar territory. The Colonial High prep star was runner-up as Florida Miss Basketball last year.  Tyghter scored 1,809 points and grabbed 1,029 rebounds in a stellar career.  Her former Colonial teammate, Jaylyn Harrison, signed on Nov. 12 to play at Georgia State next year.  

     Bethune-Cookman is off to a 5-5 start in 2014-15. The Wildcats are from the MEAC and the campus is in Daytona Beach, Fla.

     Stetson is off on its quest for a sixth consecutive 20-win season with a 6-3 mark before Tuesday's game at UNCW.  Stetson has built a solid program and won an NCAA Tournament game in 2013-14. They'll face two Sun Belt teams in this event, starting with a game with Georgia Southern on Sunday before the GSU-Bethune-Cookman game.

TESTING, ONE, TWO, THREE, TESTING....

   Georgia State will continually be testing the players and changing line-ups all game and through the start of Sun Belt Conference play with the combination of new players, injured players and second-semester eligible players. What you see now isn't necessarily what you'll see the next half, the next game, or the next game during the learning curve as the players get tested in game situations.    

  In the first 7 games, GSU has started 10 different players and played all 13 who are dressed out now.  Not a single player has started all seven games.

  Who starts a game right now is kind of meaningless, since who finishes has been different in every game. The experimentation has seen coach Baldwin-Tener actually have four freshmen and a sophomore forward on the court at some times. Now, two more players are being worked into the rotation on this trip.

   There is no substitute for game experience, so Georgia State is testing everyone under fire right now to get that experience and see which ones respond to the challenges the best.

SERIES -

Georgia State and Stetson have met 47 times (2nd most games with a GSU opponent) with GSU holding a 24-23 series lead by virtue of the win in the last game on Nov. 21, 2010 in DeLand when GSU prevailed 70-61. The Panthers are 9-13 overall in the Edmunds Center.

Georgia State and Bethune-Cookman have played just twice with Georgia State winning both games in 2010-11 and 2011-12 in that home-and-home match-up. GSU won 70-49 at Bethune-Cookman and 66-50 in Atlanta.

STETSON'S EDMUNDS CENTER

    Georgia State has fond memories of the Edmunds Center on the Stetson campus.

    In 1991, Georgia State's men's basketball team entered the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) Tournament in the Edmunds Center with a sub .500 record. The Panthers swept Stetson, UT San Antonio and Little Rock on March 5-6-7 to earn the championship and the school's first NCAA Tournament bid.

    On Nov. 21, 2010, Georgia State's new women's basketball coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener won her first game as head coach at GSU, topping Stetson 70-61. Now, with 61 wins at GSU and 256 overall as a head coach in college basketball.

    Named for J. Ollie Edmunds, a Stetson grad and later President for 19 years, the building opened on Dec. 5, 1974. The building has hosted many concerts, comedians and events. In 1992 and 1993, the Orlando Magic used the Edmunds Center for training camps, with players such as Shaquille O'Neal, Dennis Scott, Scott Skiles, Nick Anderson and Steve Kerr among the players.

WHO'S HOT

• Madison Newby has made 9 consecutive free throws since a miss in the 4th quarter vs. Howard (Nov. 28).

•  Madison Newby has made 8 of her last 12 field goals over the past three games (66.7%).

•  Tatianna Jackson has made 8 consecutive free throws since a miss vs. Tennessee Tech in the 3rd quarter (Nov. 19). For the season, Jackson is 13 of 14 from the free throw line (92.9%).

•  Makeba Ponder has made at least one 3-point basket in 8 consecutive games and 16 of her last 17 games played.

•  Astaja Tyghter made 7 of her 9 field goals (.778) in the last game vs. UNF.

•  K.K. Williams has made 7 of her last 8 free throw attempts (87.5%) and last 4 in a row.

•  Alaysia Mitchell has made her last 4 free throws over 2 games.  Mitchell has 22 rebounds over the past 3 games.