ATLANTA (Dec. 1, 2006) ? Both Georgia State's women's and men's basketball teams will travel to Hofstra this weekend to start Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The men tip things off when they take on the CAA preseason favorite Pride on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a contest that will be broadcast live on the Madison Square Garden Television Network. On Sunday, the Panthers' women's team will do battle with the Pride at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live over the internet at www.wras.org and on WRAS-FM (88.5) in Atlanta.

On the road for the sixth time in seven games this season, the Georgia State women have rebounded from a 0-3 mark with three consecutive wins and a 3-3 record. The Pride has won the last four meetings in the series and own a 4-1 mark against the Panthers. Hofstra (4-1), which has won three straight, including a win at nationally-ranked Michigan State, enters the match as a team receiving votes in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls.

Sunday's game pits a 17-year veteran head coach in the Panthers' Lea Henry against first-year Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey, who was a former high school coach and four-year assistant at CAA brethren James Madison. Henry will be seeking win No. 199 at Georgia State as she marches to 200 Panther victories in 13 seasons.

Freshman Danyiell McKeller paces State's offense, averaging 16.2 points per game, which ranks seventh in the CAA. She is tied for the team lead in rebounding at 6.7 boards per contest. Senior Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen totals 13.3 ppg and 5.5 rebounds per outing while leading the team in assists (35). Guard Tabitha David is also averaging double figures in points (11.5 ppg), while shooting 48 percent from 3-point range.

Four players average double figures for Hofstra, led by preseason first-team all-CAA Vanessa Gidden (16.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg). Guard Cigi McCollin (16.0 ppg) and forward Lizanne Murphy (11.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg) can also score.

On the men's side, the Panthers and Pride enter Saturday's meeting with identical 3-3 records. Georgia State has won three of four after starting the season at 0-2. The Panthers are still looking for their first road victory of the year, having dropped two of their three losses away from the Sports Arena. Hofstra has won three-in-a-row after losing its first three games by a combined nine points. Saturday's match up will be the first home game for the Pride this season. Hofstra has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons.

 

Hofstra features "the nation's highest scoring backcourt trio" of guards Loren Stokes (the CAA Preseason Player of the Year), Antoine Agudio and Carlos Rivera, that averages 53.4 points per game. The Pride averages 78.3 points and 9.3 three-pointers per game, but they also give up 77.0 per game.

 

Lance Perique leads the Panthers in scoring and has double figures in every game.

Georgia State will counter with a high scoring offense of its own, led by senior guard Lance Perique and his 16.7 ppg average, who is sixth in the league in scoring. Sophomores Leonard Mendez and Rashad Chase are averaging 13.5 and 13.3 points per game, respectively. Chase, an all-CAA rookie selection last year, leads the CAA in rebounding average at 9.5 boards per outing. The Panthers, who total 72.8 points per contest are listed in the top six of several CAA team statistics, including scoring (4th), 3-point field goal percentage (2nd) and rebounding (4th).