A Statesboro woman bought a $5 lottery ticket at a West Main Street convenience store recently and scratched the ticket to find she won $400,000.

Lena Prince claimed her prize March 16 at the Georgia Lottery District Office in Augusta, said Kimberly Starks, media relations manager for the Georgia Lottery Commission who announced the win Monday.

Prince was not immediately available for comment Monday and did not return messages sent to her on social media. She also did not return phone messages from Stark asking that she contact the Statesboro Herald for comment. The lottery commission did not provide Prince's contact information due to privacy policies.

The winning ticket, a "20 x Money" scratch-off, was sold at Gary's Food Mart on West Main Street. The $400,000 windfall was the top prize offered in the game, Stark said.

Gary Patel, store manager, said winning tickets are sold at his store often, with winners cashing in significant sums of $100 to $500 "every two weeks," but he said his store has never sold a winning ticket with a prize as large as the one Prince won.

"I'm feeling pretty good," he said Monday. "I'm glad someone won."

He was not present when Prince bought the ticket, he said.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $16 billion to the state of Georgia for education, according to Stark.

"All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program," she said.

More than 1.7 million students have received money from the HOPE Scholarship, and more than 1.3 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, lottery-funded, voluntary prekindergarten program, she said.

Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.