OXFORD, Miss. – Senior Chyna Ellis collected 20 points and 12 rebounds for her 4th double-double of the season, but the University of South Alabama women's basketball team (5-3) fell at Ole Miss (8-1), 66-59, on Saturday. The loss ends a three-game win streak on the road.
 
Ellis also had a game-high three takeaways to go with a pair of rejections. The two blocks give the senior 250 for her career and she moved into second all-time in Sun Belt Conference history in rejections. Ellis went 8-for-18 from the field, and made 3-of-6 three-point attempts.
 
Sophomore Savannah Jones and senior Genesis Perrymond joined Ellis as part of three double-digit scorers for USA. Jones dropped 14 while shooting 6-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-6 from the three-point arc. Perrymond finished with 11 points going 5-for-11, including 1-of-3 on three-point buckets.
 
The Rebels' Alissa Alston scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field, while making her lone three-point attempt and going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
 
The Jags held Madinah Muhammad and Promise Taylor to nearly half of their season averages. Muhammad collected 13 points on 2-of-15 shooting, including 0-for-6 from three-point range, while Taylor scored just six points on 2-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from the charity stripe before fouling out with 41 seconds in the game. Muhammad averaged 21.1 ppg, while Taylor averaged 12.1ppg coming into the contest as they are two of their top three leading scorers.
 
GAME FACTS
- The Jags largest lead of the game was seven with 5:57 remaining in the opening quarter.
- Ellis scored 16 points in the first quarter, most by a USA player in any quarter this season, and 18 for the half, also a team-high for the season.
- The senior center shot 7-of-10 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, in the opening half.
- Ole Miss led 40-34 to end the first after it went on an 8-0 run, and South Alabama went scoreless for the final 2:17.
- The Jags cut the Rebels' lead to two at the end of third, outscoring Ole Miss 18-14.
- Shaforia Kines made a layup and drained a free-throw as part of a three-point play with 41 seconds left to pull the Jags within one.
- Ole Miss ended the game on a 6-0 run after Kines' three-point play to pull away from USA.
- The Rebels held the Jags to a season-low seven points in the fourth quarter.
- USA had six blocks in the contest, just below its 6.7 bpg average during the season.
- South Alabama finished the game making one of its last 10 shots.
- The Jags struggled on layups in the second-half converting on 1-of-8 attempts.
- USA lost a narrow margin in rebounds to the Rebels 42-41, but won the offensive board battle 12-11 and outscored Ole Miss on second-chance points 15-9.
- Ole Miss dominated the paint outscoring South Alabama 36-16.
- The Jags shot-6-of-8 from the charity stripe.
 
NOTES
- Ellis' three steals tied a career-high. It was her third game with three takeaways and first this season.
- Ellis scored 20 points for the third-time this season and collected her seventh double-digit scoring effort.
- Ellis has 908 points during career and needs just 92 more to become the 19th player in program history to score 1,000 points for a career.
- Perrymond tied a season-high with six assists in the game.
- Perrymond collected double-digit points for the third-straight game.
- Jones collected her fifth double-digit scoring game after having a season-low four points against Jacksonville.
- Four of the Jags' lowest scoring quarters this season have come in the second.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "I thought we came in and played hard and we had every opportunity to win this ballgame. Some shots didn't fall for us, but moving forward we need to forget about this one and get ready to play Southern on Monday night."
 
On Chyna's play this season: "She's focused. She's a senior and she's playing like it. Her preparation has been great. I expect to see her continue to improve and it'll be interesting to see how teams adjust to her."
 
On the second quarter in losses this season: "I thought today, we went to our bench and tried to rest players to come back in down the stretch. We struggled from that point, but at the end of the day, we had every opportunity to win the ballgame."
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars start a five-game homestand on Saturday with a matchup against Southern at the Mitchell Center. Opening tip is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
 
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).

Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
 
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