MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball faces Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday at 2:00 p.m.  This will be the first time the Jaguars will play the Chanticleers in Mobile, as Costal Carolina joined the Sun Belt Conference this year in all sports except football.
 
Fans can watch the game through ULMWarhawks.com, listen at http://995thejag.com/listen, or get updates on Twitter (@SouthALWBB) or live stats via ULMWarhawks.com.
 
South Alabama won the only meeting between the two schools 74-53 on Dec. 20, 1995 in the Carolina Holiday Beach Classic hosted by the Chanticleers.

The Jaguars will wear their pink uniforms as part of Play4Kay for this game and their next home game on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. against Appalachian State.  Play4Kay is the grassroots fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.  The Kay Yow Cancer Fund started in December, 2007 and is a charitable organization committed to being a part of finding an answer in the fight against women's cancers by raising funds for scientific research, assisting the underserved, and unifying people for a common cause. To date, the Fund has allocated more than $5 million in support of women's cancer research.
 
South Alabama ended its eight-game losing streak with a 77-47 victory at Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.  The Jags led the Warhawks by double-digits in all but one minute after the first quarter.  Louisiana-Monroe scored the first point of the game on a free throw in its second possession, but South Alabama went on a 10-0 run with baskets in four-straight possessions.  The Jags ended the quarter with the last four points scored and led 16-7.  The Jags started the second quarter with an 8-2 run.
 
Louisiana-Monroe scored a layup on the first possession of the second half, but South Alabama ripped off an 11-0 run that was almost five minutes long.  After the Warhawks snapped their scoreless drought with a three-pointer at the 4:15 mark of the quarter, the Jags went on another quick 6-0 run with points in three-straight possessions.  The Jags were able to stretch their lead to 35 points, the largest of the game, with a 17-4 run in the fourth quarter.
 
The Jags shot 43.8% (28-64) from the field and 35% (7-20) from three and held the Warhawks to 28% (14-50) from the field and 19% (4-21) from three.  South Alabama had the edge on the glass, outrebounding Louisiana-Monroe 44-30.  The Jags turned 19 offensive boards into a 15-6 advantage in second chance points that also helped them outscore the Warhawks 32-18 in points in the paint.  The Jags finished with 19 assists to 11 turnovers for the second-highest assist/turnover ratio in a game this season.  Capitalizing off of the Warhawks' 17 turnovers, the Jags had the advantage in points off turnovers (27-9) and fast break points (8-0).
 
South Alabama had five different players score over ten points for the first time since its 83-45 win against Georgia State on the exact same date.  Chyna Ellis scored a game-high 15 points and also had a team-high eight rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist.  Colby Davis scored 14 points on 4-8 shooting and went 4-5 at the free throw line.  Kennedi Centers had the first double-digit scoring game of her career, producing 10 points in addition to seven rebounds and a steal.  Candice Williams and LaNeetra Guillory both scored a dozen points.
 
Ellis enters the game averaging 2.9 rejections per game that tops the Sun Belt and ranks 13th in the NCAA.  She has recorded a block in each game played this season and is 15th in the nation and first in the conference in total blocked shots (63).  Her total number of blocks this season are more than four of the schools in the conference have as a team and average rejections per game is greater than five teams' average.
 
She already has the fourth-most blocks in a season in program history. She surpassed LaSandra Jenkins' 1984 total of 62 with two rejections at Louisiana-Monroe.  Previously she tied Adrian Vickers' 1990 total with four blocks at Louisiana-Lafayette and surpassed her freshman total of 56 with two blocks at Troy.  She is also on pace for 83 rejections this season, which would surpass her blocked shot total (82) from last year and be three short of Jenkins'  single-season blocks record of 86 in 1983.
 
With 201 career blocks, she would need to average just 1.4 per game the rest of the year to become the all-time leader in rejections by the end of this season.  She is also on pace for 83 rejections this season, which would surpass her blocked shot total (82) from last year and be three short of Jenkins'  single-season blocks record of 86 in 1983.
 
Coastal Carolina (9-14, 4-9) enters the game with a four-game losing streak, dropping two home games last week to Georgia State (69-48) and Georgia Southern (65-62) and falling on the road in the previous week to Arkansas State (60-52) and Little Rock (79-47).  With a 4-9 record in the Sun Belt Conference, the Chanticleers are ninth in the conference standings and just a half game ahead of the Jags and one game below Appalachian State.
 
Coastal Carolina has averaged 62.3 ppg while shooting 37.8% from the field and 30.1% from three, and opponents are averaging 64.9 ppg and shooting 40.7% from the field and 32.7% from three.  The Chanticleers have averaged 17.9 turnovers per game but force opponents to a 19.0 average, and are just one of three teams in the Sun Belt averaging at least double-digit steals per game with a 10.2 average that ranks third in the league.
 
One of two players on the squad that average over 10 points per game, redshirt-senior guard Ced Gibson ranks 10th in the conference in scoring (13.2 ppg) and also is third in steals (2.4 spg), seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.2) and minutes played (33.0 mpg), ninth in assists (3.3 apg), 12th in free throw percentage (75.7%) and 13th in three-pointers made per game (1.4).   Senior guard/forward Rachael Gregory is the other Chanticleer to average double-digit points, averaging 11.6 ppg that ranks 14th in the league.  Gregory also is eighth in field goal percentage (44.3%) and 16th in rebounding (6.1 rpg).
 
Senior guard/forward Alexis Robinson has been one of the top rebounders in the SBC, averaging 9.4 rpg that ranks second, including 4.1 rpg on the offensive glass.  Sophomore guard Kennedy Archer has been an efficient scorer for the Chanticleers, ranking third in three point field goal percentage (40.7%), ninth in free throw percentage (78.8%) and 10th in field goal percentage (43.7%) for 9.6 ppg and also is tied for sixth in the league in steals (1.9 spg).
 
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your our ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.
 
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).