Southern Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team will head back out on the road for a single game when the Lady Jags travel to take on defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Southern on Friday night.  Tip-off versus the Jaguars is set for 5:30 p.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

South Alabama comes into the match up after evening its record to 1-1 on Tuesday night with a 95-61 win over Conference USA foe Southern Miss.  Against the Golden Eagles, the Lady Jags used a 29-8 first-half run and connected on their first seven three-pointers to pull away from USM.  Southern Miss got as close as 13 midway through the second half, but South Alabama closed strong and cruised to the 34-point victory.

All 11 players who saw action in the contest got into the scoring column with six reaching double-figures.  Junior guard Sarda Peterson led the club with a career-high 18 points.  Peterson currently leads the team offensively with 16.points per outing and is shooting 67 percent from the field (12-of-18) through two games.  The Ft. Myers, Fla., native has also hit four of her seven attempts from long range.

Senior forward Christian Shelter ranks right behind Peterson in scoring with 12.5 ppg.  She is also averaging 5.5 boards per contest. Fellow senior point guard Siedah Banks has been solid directing the offense, averaging 6.0 assists per game. 

As a team, USA is averaging 78.5 ppg and shooting 43 percent both from the field and from beyond the arc.  Individually, four players are shooting 43 percent or better from the three-point line. 

Like the Lady Jags, Southern enters Friday’s game with a 1-1 record.  Last weekend, the Jaguars opened the season with a 76-52 loss to No. 22 Iowa at the Holiday Inn-Emerald Beach Islanders Tip-Off Tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas, but bounced back to defeat the tourney host Islanders, 75-51.

Southern returns 10 letterwinners, including all five of its starters from last season’s squad that posted 23 wins and captured both the SWAC regular season and tournament titles.  During the preseason, the Jaguars received all but one first-place vote to repeat as the league’s champion.

“This is a tremendous challenge for us, because we are going into a championship team’s home opener and against a team that returns everybody that mattered for them last season,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “Southern is a team that we were able to beat in our building last season by nine points, but it was a game that we really had to compete to win.  This is an exceptional challenge against a team that is very athletic, very physical and coached by Sandy Pugh, who has won multiple SWAC titles.  This is a great challenge for us and hopefully we can respond well to it.”

Seniors Freda Allen and Hannah Kador were each selected first-team all-SWAC last month.  Allen was also named the conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.  Last season, Kador led SU in scoring 16 times and averaged 12.8 points per outing.  This year, Kador ranks second on the club with 9.5 ppg. 

Leading the way offensively for Southern is Ashley Augerson with 11.0 ppg.  In two games, Augerson has knocked down 45 percent of her attempts from field.  Tiffany Foster is also averaging 9.0 ppg for the Jaguars.

As a team, Southern is averaging 62.5 points per game and shooting 34.8 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from the arc.

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

NOTES:  Friday’s game will be the 15th in the all-time series between South Alabama and Southern.  USA holds an 11-3 advantage in the all-time series, are just 3-3 against Southern in Baton Rouge.  Last season, USA captured a 64-55 victory over Southern in Mobile.  USA is 8-2 against Southern under Pietri.  The meeting between Pietri and Southern head coach Sandy Pugh will be the 11th between the two coaches.  Pietri holds an 8-2 advantage in those previous 10 meetings.  It will also mark the 73rd time USA has faced a current SWAC member.  South Alabama is 56-16 all-time versus the league, while Pietri is 15-4 against the league.