It seems like it’s been ages since Georgia Southern opened its season in Hanner Fieldhouse against the Florida Atlantic Lady Owls.
    Chris Vozab coached her first game as a head coach in a 75-55 loss to FAU on Nov. 9 – almost two weeks ago. The Eagles haven’t played a game since.
    “It’s not how I planned it,” Vozab said. “We’ve been trying to move some stuff around so we could have something last week, but it worked out OK. It gave us that first week after our first game to worry about us – fix a lot of the things we thought we could improve on.”
    For Vozab, it was all about the little things.
    The Eagles were out-rebounded 49-35, and turned it over 21 times, though they trailed just 35-30 at halftime.
    “We’re going to play some teams that are a little more athletic than us,” Vozab said. “When that happens, the little things on each possession aren’t so little. They make the possession.”
    The Eagles will finally play again today at 2 p.m. in the opening game of the Georgia State Thanksgiving Tournament, against the host Panthers (2-1).
    Saturday, GSU will face either Kent State or Florida A&M.
    Vozab said FAMU and Georgia State have a lot in common with FAU, and Kent State may match up better with the Eagles.
    Regardless, planning for the unknowns of a tournament will be good practice for the players and the first-year coaching staff.
    “It’s so similar to when you get to a tournament. It’s one game at a time,” Vozab said. “It’s good for us as a staff. We’re able to put together some similarities, so when you have that one day of prep we can have general things we can do.”
    In the opener, the veteran players led the way. MiMi DuBose led all scorers with 17 points, followed by Anna Claire Knight (8) and Aishya Wofford (6).
    The team got to Atlanta a day early, sharing Thanksgiving at the home of the parents of junior forward Danielle Spencer and several other players’ parents.

    Matt Yogus may be reached at (912) 489-9408.