MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball faces Texas State on the road on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
 
Fans can watch the game through TXStateBobcats.com, listen at http://995thejag.com/listen or get updates on Twitter (@SouthALWBB) or live stats via USAJaguars.com.
 
The meeting between South Alabama and Texas State will mark the ninth in the all-time series between the two clubs.  The Bobcats hold a 7-1 record in the series.  Texas State defeated South Alabama 57-44 earlier this season on Jan. 14th at the Mitchell Center.  The two teams split the season series last year with the road team prevailing for the win in the two games.  The Jaguars won 70-56 on March 5th, and the Bobcats won 73-71 on Jan. 14th.
 
Texas State swept the season series in the first two years they played each other as Sun Belt opponents.  Four of the seven conference games have been decided by four points or less.  Fourth-year South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler and sixth-year Texas State head coach Zenarae Antoine have been the head coaches for all seven SBC games.
 
In its last game last Saturday South Alabama topped Appalachian State 54-41 to win its first Sun Belt Conference home game of the season.  Colby Davis scored 15 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, including 11 of the first 13 points scored in the quarter, to help the Jags get the lead and preserve it for the last eight minutes of the game.  The Jags outscored the Mountaineers 27-9 in the fourth quarter.  South Alabama went 9-13 (69.2%) from the field, 2-3 (66.7%) from three and 7-10 (70.0%) from the free throw line in the quarter and held Appalachian State to 3-18 (16.7%) from the field and 0-4 from three. 
 
For the entire game the Jaguars' defense forced the Mountaineers to 20.9% (14-67) shooting from the field and 8.3% (1-12) from three, both season-lows for Jags' opponents.  South Alabama tied a season-high with nine blocks and outscored the Mountaineers 30-20 in the paint.
 
Davis finished the game 7-12 from the field, 1-4 from three and 2-3 at the free throw line.  She made all six field goal attempts and had two of her three assists in the fourth quarter.  Davis also tied her career-high in rebounding, pulling down seven boards.  Chyna Ellis scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.  Genesis Perrymond had 10 points in addition to five rebounds, three assists and one steal.
 
Ellis became the schools' all-time leader in career blocks after recording a game-high and season-high six rejections that gave her 212 career rejections, passing LaSandra Jenkins' (1982-85) 210 blocks. 
 
She enters the game averaging 3.1 rejections per game that tops the Sun Belt and ranks eighth in the NCAA.  She has recorded a block in each game played this season and is 13th in the nation and first in the conference in total blocked shots (74).  Her total number of blocks this season are more than six of the schools in the conference have as a team, and her average rejections per game is greater than seven teams' average.
 
She already has the third-most blocks in a season in program history. With her five rejections against Coastal Carolina, she moved ahead of Delk's 2004 total of 65 and surpassed 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 89 rejections this season, which would surpass her blocked shot total (82) from last year and Jenkins'  single-season blocks record (86 rejections) set in 1983.
 
Texas State (14-11, 9-5) enters the game with a loss in its last game, 71-69 at Georgia Southern, that snapped a four-game winning streak.  After beginning conference play 1-3, the Bobcats eight of the past 10 games, the second best stretch in the conference.  With a 9-5 record in the Sun Belt Conference, Texas State is tied with Louisiana-Lafayette for fourth place but have the head-to-head tiebreaker with a win against the Ragin' Cajuns.  The Bobcats are one game ahead of Georgia Southern and one game below third place Texas-Arlington.
 
Texas State has the third worst scoring offense (58.4 ppg) in the SBC but have the second best scoring defense (58.0 ppg), field goal percentage defense (37.5%) and three-point field goal percentage defense (29.1%).  The Bobcats are one slot below in rebounding margin (-5.2 rpg), ranking second to last in the league.
 
Junior guard Taeler Deer is the only Bobcat averaging double-digits in scoring (10.9 ppg) and also ranks in the conference first in three-point field goal percentage (46.0%), second in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), fifth in field goal percentage (48.2%), sixth in assists (3.4 apg) and 13th in steals (1.6 spg).  Sophomore guard Toshua Leavitt has been a three-point specialist for the Bobcats, ranking 10th in the league in three-point field goal percentage (33.7%) and second in three-point field goals made (2.3 per game) and also is 27th in scoring (9.5 ppg).
 
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).