Game 25 - at Appalachian State Game Notes (.pdf)

BOONE, N.C. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will play its fourth game in eight days Thursday night when the Jaguars travel to take on Appalachian State.  Tip-off versus the Mountaineers is set for 4 p.m. (CT) at the Holmes Center.

"The biggest thing for us heading into this game is that we are focused," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "We always talk about looking at what's ahead and not looking back.  Our focus has to be on Appalachian State.  They are a team that really likes to score in transition getting the ball up and down the floor, so they are similar in that fact to our last opponent Troy.  I thought we did a good job at the defensive end of the floor against App State at our place.  They are a different team though on their home floor, so we're going to have to be prepared for them."

Live stats and App State's web streaming video and audio broadcast for the contest versus the Mountaineers 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 (12-12, 8-7 SBC) comes into Thursday night's game against Appalachian State after rallying back to pick up a 65-63 win over Troy on Tuesday night.  The Jaguars closed the game on an 8-0 run over the last minute-and-a-half and Colby Davis gave USA the win as she knocked down a jumper with 1.6 seconds remaining.

The win versus the Trojans was the Jaguars third-straight and sixth in their last nine games.  South Alabama outscored the Trojans 24-11 in the second quarter and turned a 12-point deficit into a nine-point lead.

Redshirt freshman Erin Autio led the way offensively for South Alabama with a career-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting.  Autio is shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from beyond the three-point line, which is tied for 14th in the SBC.

Over South Alabama's last eight games, the duo of Marquita Daniels and Davis has led the way offensively.  During that time, Daniels is averaging 13.1 points per game and has 17 steals, while shooting 31.6 percent from long range.  Davis is averaging 10.9 ppg and has dished out 33 assists (4.13 per game), while knocking down 45 percent of her shot attempts and 56.3 percent of her three-point attempts.

Daniels is averaging 10.6 ppg, which is 17th-best in the conference, while also tied for fourth in the Sun Belt in steals with a 2.0 per game average.  The Atlanta, Ga., native has recorded 29 of her 43 steals in conference play.

South Alabama currently leads the Sun Belt and is tied with Texas and Stanford for seventh in the NCAA in blocks, averaging 6.0 per game.  The Jaguars are also 16th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.351), 50th in three-point field-goal defense (.282) and 55th in scoring defense (57.8).  USA leads the league in field-goal defense, three-point field-goal defense and on the defensive glass (27.2).  USA has 143 blocks on the season, which ranks as ninth-most in the NCAA.

Leading the way in the post defensively for the Jags is Chyna Ellis.  Ellis is first in the Sun Belt and ranks 25th in the NCAA in blocks – sixth-most among sophomores nationally – with 2.71 per game.  Her 65 blocks this season are tied for second with Genevieve Delk (65 – 2003-04) for second on South Alabama's single-season blocks chart.  

Ellis has recorded five or more blocks five times this season and in her 14 conference games, she is averaging 3.36 bpg.  She has had two or more blocks in 20 of her 24 games.  Ellis didn't record a block in her last outing, marking just the third time this season that she hasn't registered one in a game.  It also snapped a streak of 16-straight outings in which she had had multiple blocks in a game.

Appalachian State (8-15, 5-9 SBC) enters play this week currently sitting in eighth place in the Sun Belt standings.  Over the weekend, the Mountaineers dropped a pair of games, falling at Texas State (87-76) Thursday night and at UT Arlington (65-58) on Saturday.

The Mountaineers led 50-46 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks rallied back outscoring App State 19-8 over the final 10 minutes.  UTA held ASU to 23.1 percent shooting in the quarter and hit 11 of its 12 attempts at the free throw line.  The Mavs were 21-for-22 at the charity stripe in the game.  App State was led in the loss to UTA by Joi Jones who recorded her first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

The Mountaineers are 6-4 at the Holmes Center this season and 3-3 in league play, winning its last two.

Offensively, App State has two players averaging double figures entering Thursday night's contest.  Madi Story is 11th in the Sun Belt in scoring with 11.9 ppg, while Jones is tied for 14th with 11.1 ppg.  Story is also ninth in the league at the foul line, converting 72.6 percent of her attempts.  Jones is one of the top rebounding guards in the Sun Belt as she is pulling down 5.2 boards per game, which is fourth-most among guards in the conference.

Kaila Craven sits just outside double figures with 9.1 ppg.  Craven leads the club with 29 made threes on the year.

Senior post player Keke Cooper is having a sold final season for the Mountaineers.  Cooper leads the SBC in field-goal percentage (.580), ranks fourth in defensive rebounds (5.2) and is tied with fellow teammate Ashely Bassett-Smith for fifth in the conference in blocks (1.3).  Mia Marshall is right behind the duo with 1.2 blocks per game and the Mountaineers rank second as a team in that category with 4.4 per outing.

Appalachian State is the top rebounding club in the Sun Belt, pulling down a league-best 41.0 boards per game.  The Mountaineers are also second on both the offensive (14.8) and defensive (26.2) glass.

App State also ranks as the third-highest scoring offense in the Sun Belt, averaging 65.3 ppg coming into the game versus the Jaguars.

South Alabama took the first meeting between the two teams this season, defeating Appalachian State 71-55 in Mobile, Ala., with Daniels and Davis combined to record 43 points.  Daniels finished with a season-high 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Davis notched a career-high 21 points and was 7-for-11 from the field.

Daniels was also 7-for-8 at the foul line, and recorded six rebounds, three assists, and two steals, and Davis knocked down a career-best four three-pointers and was perfect from long range.  

Davis came alive in the second half as she scored 15 of her 21 points.  Davis (10) and Daniels (7) combined for 17 of USA's 21 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

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—