Game 23 - vs. Georgia Southern Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will continue its three-game Sun Belt Conference homestand Saturday afternoon when the Jaguars welcome Georgia Southern.  Tip-off versus the Eagles is set for 2 p.m. at the Mitchell Center and will be aired on ESPN3.  

The game against Georgia Southern will also be South Alabama's annual "Pink Game" in support of breast cancer awareness.  Fans are asked to wear pink to the game.  The game will mark the sixth time in program history that the Jags have worn pink uniforms.  USA holds a 3-2 record in those previous games in its pink uniforms.

Live stats and web streaming for the contest versus the Eagles can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.  Fans can also keep up with in-game updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.  

South Alabama (10-12, 6-7 SBC) comes into game against the Eagles fresh off a 38-point win over Georgia State on Thursday night, shooting 51.8 percent in the 83-45 victory.  

The 10 wins mark the first 10-win season for the program since the '12-13 campaign.  USA has also won four of its last six and three-straight at the Mitchell Center.

The 38-point win was the largest for the Jags in conference play since defeating Troy by 37 (63-26) in Mobile on Jan. 29, 2012.

"It was good to see us bounce back from the Little Rock game and just come out and play with a lot of togetherness," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said speaking of the win against Georgia State.  "Everyone talks about what we did at the offensive end of the floor.  We really shot the ball well and shared the ball with 22 assists on 29 made baskets, but I think the biggest thing in Thursday night's game was what we did defensively.  We held Georgia State to 45 points and we were able to generate some easy baskets from our defense."

USA recorded 22 assists on its 29 made field goals.  Colby Davis and Genesis Perrymond each recorded a game-high six assists apiece.  The six assists by Perrymond was a new career best.

Davis has scored double figures in four of her last five, including a 12-point outing on Thursday.  Over the last six games, Davis has averaged 12.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and shot 46.8 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent from beyond the three-point line.  Davis is has also shot 72.4 percent at the charity stripe and dished out 24 assists (4.0 per game) and 11 steals (1.8 per game).

Marquita Daniels was one of five players to record double figures for the Jags against the Panthers as she had 18 points to go along with her four assists and career-high six steals.  Daniels (10.7 ppg) has now recorded double figures in five of her last six games entering Saturday's match up.

South Alabama currently leads the Sun Belt and is tied with Colgate, Texas and Stanford for seventh in the NCAA in blocks, averaging 6.0 per game.   The Jaguars are also 25th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.354) and 43rd in three-point field-goal defense (.278).  USA leads the league in field-goal percentage defense, three-point field-goal defense and on the defensive glass (27.4).  USA has 131 blocks on the season, which is fifth-most for a single season in program history and currently rank 14th-most in the NCAA.

Chyna Ellis is first in the Sun Belt and ranks 21st in the NCAA in blocks with 2.82 per game.  Her 62 blocks this season have already surpassed her tally (56) her freshman single-season blocks record.  With her two blocks against Georgia State, Ellis moved past Adrian Vickers (61 – 1989-90) in fourth and into a tie for third with LaSandra Jenkins (62 – 1983-84) on South Alabama's single-season blocks chart.

Ellis has recorded five or more blocks five times this season and in her 13 conference games she is averaging 3.39 bpg.  She has had two or more blocks in 19 of her 22 games, including each of the last 15.

Georgia Southern (7-15, 4-9 SBC) enters play this weekend after suffering an 84-68 loss at Troy on Thursday.  The loss was the Eagles' fourth in their last five outings.  GSU trailed by as much as 22 points in the third to the Trojans, but rallied back late, twice pulling within seven in the final quarter, before falling by 16.

Patrice Butler recorded her 13th double-digit scoring outing for the season against Troy with a 19-point effort.  Sophomore Sierra Butler finished the game with her first career double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds, 11 at the defensive end of the floor.

Troy knocked down 12 three-pointers in the game, while the Eagles were held to just 3-of-20 shooting from the arc.

GSU's leading scorer, Angel McGowan was held to just six points on 2-of-13 shooting.  McGowan ranks sixth in the Sun Belt in scoring with 15.0 points per game.  The junior guard did reach a milestone against the Trojans, recording the 900th point of her career.

McGowan also sits among the league leaders in several other categories.  Entering play this weekend, she is tied for second in three-pointers per game (43 – 2.0), ninth in steals (41 – 2.0) and minutes (31.8) and 11th in both three-point field-goal percentage (.344) and free-throw shooting (.726).

P. Butler also ranks among the Sun Belt leaders.  The 6-2 junior's 12.4 ppg average is tied for ninth in the league, while she also ranks ninth in free-throw percentage (.742), 12th in field-goal percentage (.447) and 13th in rebounding (5.6).  

As a team, Georgia Southern is tied with UL Lafayette for fourth in field-goal percentage defense (.393) and is the fifth-best team in the SBC at guarding the three-point line.  The Eagles do rank 11th out of 11 teams in the conference in scoring offense (53.5), scoring margin (-9.0) and field-goal percentage (.364).

Georgia Southern picked up the first meeting between the two clubs this season, defeating the Jags 57-43 in Statesboro in early January.  South Alabama led by 13 after the first quarter of play, but GSU switched to a zone defense and held the Jaguars to just 23 points over the remainder of the game.  

"We can't just rely on making outside shots," Fowler said.  "It's going to be about us getting the ball moving and our ability to penetrate the gaps in the zone.  We have to make their zone shift and create some openings either with some wide open shots on the perimeter or with some paint touches where we can get the ball inside.  We have to make them move at the defensive end of the floor.  We can't be stagnate on offense."  

Georgia Southern's McGowan led all scorers with 26 points and a career-high seven steals to go along with six rebounds.  Erin Autio came off the bench to lead South Alabama offensively as she was the lone Jag in double figures, ending the night with 13 points.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—