The road has been unkind to Georgia Southern so far this season.
    Five games into the schedule, they’re 1-3 on the road and have played only once at home, falling in the season opener to Florida Atlantic, 75-55.
    The lone win came against the Kent State Lady Golden Flashes at Georgia State’s Thanksgiving Tournament.
    The 71-47 win was a good of example of what the Eagles look like when things are going right.
    “I think it was five people on the court competing together for each other on every play, defensively and offensively,” first-year coach Chris Vozab said. “That’s a lot easier said than done, but it’s something really good teams do on a consistent basis.”
    The Eagles face Mercer (4-3) Friday at 7 p.m., in Hanner Fieldhouse, and the focus will be on defense.
    “Mercer is a really athletic team,” Vozab said. “They have a couple of prolific scorers, and it’s going to be important that we’re able to contain Precious Bridges for one, but they have several scoring threats.”
    Bridges leads the Bears with 15.3 points per game, but three other players —Kendra Grant (13.1), Tabitha Bradshaw (10.3) and Alicia Williams (10) —each average double figures.
    Most of Georgia Southern’s scoring has come from guard MiMi DuBose, who is the only Eagle averaging double figures (14).
    DuBose is also the only GSU guard shooting above 30 percent from behind the 3-point arc, hitting 10 of 31 attempts on the season.
    Scoring has been the biggest struggle. The Eagles shot 40 percent from the floor against Kent State, but are 32 percent on the season, compared to the opponents’ 42 percent.
    The game against Mercer will be a short stop on the home court, as GSU will return to the road for six-straight before returning home on Jan. 7, 2013, to face Western Carolina.

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