TIP-OFF    
• The ULM women's basketball team rings in the new year with its first road Sun Belt Conference game of the season at Georgia State on Thursday (Jan. 4) in Atlanta. The Warhawks and the Panthers will play inside the GSU Convocation Center at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT on Thursday evening

• In a game that featured 10 lead changes and seven tie scores, ULM narrowly fell to the SBC's preseason favorites, James Madison, in the conference opener on Dec. 30, 85-79. Jakayla Johnson scored 25 points and added six rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals and blocks and scored above 20 points for the second time in a Warhawks uniform. Joining Johnson in double figures were Katlyn Manuel (14 points), Nunu Bradford (12 points) and Sania Wells (10 points). Bradford led all players with seven assists and added four boards. Manuel grabbed four rebounds while Wells passed a pair of assists.

• ULM generated an eight-game winning streak that spanned November and December, which was the program's largest winning streak since the 2006-07 season.

THURSDAY'S GAME BASICS    
ULM and Georgia State meet for the 15th time in history Thursday evening at the GSU Convocation Center in Atlanta.

Thursday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Sam Campbell (play-by-play) and Kelcey Roegiers (analyst) on the call. The game also will air on KMLB 105.7 FM/540 AM and the TuneIn app on the Warhawk Radio Network from Learfield with Ben Milam on the play-by-play.

PREVIEWING GEORGIA STATE
Georgia State began Sun Belt play with a thrilling 90-89 road overtime victory at Troy on New Year's Eve. Mya Williams sank a three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to push the Panthers past the Trojans. Junior guard Mikyla Tolivert secured a career-high 27 points and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds in GSU's victory. The Panthers snapped a seven-game losing streak to Troy and improved to 7-4 overall on the season.

As a team, Georgia State shoots 41.7% from the floor, which is the fifth-highest mark in the SBC. The Panthers hit an average of 33.1% of their attempts from three-point range, the fourth-highest average in the conference. Defensively, Georgia State surrenders 64.5 points per game (10th in the conference) with opponents shooting 37.5% from the field. 

Tolivert leads Georgia State in scoring and posts 14.8 points per game, which is the ninth-highest average in the SBC. Crystal Henderson has facilitated the Panthers' offense and holds the third-highest assists per game mark in the conference with 4.5 assists/game. Alyssa Phillip is the team's leading rebounder and averages 6.8 rebounds per contest.

Georgia State is led by Gene Hill, who is in his sixth season guiding GSU women's basketball. Hill served as an assistant coach at two ACC institutions (NC State & Georgia Tech) before starting at Georgia State. Hill's coaching stops include Butler, East Carolina, USC Spartanburg, Lander and Coker.

UP NEXT
The Warhawks will complete its two-game road trip in Georgia on Saturday (Jan. 6) with a game at Georgia Southern in Statesboro. The game is set for a 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT start.