MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will play its final regular season road game this weekend when the Jaguar women head to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on Sun Belt East Division leader Middle Tennessee. Tip-off versus the Blue Raiders is set for 2 p.m. Sunday at the Murphy Center.
Live stats for the contest between USA and MTSU can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com, while fans can watch the game via the internet on ESPN360 and will also be available on a pay-per-view basis as part of ESPN's Full Court package.
South Alabama comes to the contest versus the Blue Raiders sitting in fourth-place in the Sun Belt East Division with a 14-13 overall record and a 9-7 league mark.
USA fought back from a 15-point first half deficit on the road Wednesday night to tie the game up at 44, but Western Kentucky used a 14-2 run midway through the second half and held off another late charge by the Jags to pick up the 67-61 win. The loss was the seventh in South Alabama's last nine games.
During that stretch, the Jags have averaged just 59.7 ppg and shot 35 percent from the floor, while allowing its opponents to shoot 45 percent from the floor and giving up 69.3 ppg.
Christian Shelter continues to lead the club offensively with 11.4 points per outing. Against the Lady Toppers, Shelter recorded 17 points and was 5-of-10 from the three-point line. Shelter has led the Jags in scoring on 11 occasions this season. Shakira Nettles is second on the club in scoring with 10.8 ppg and leads USA with 39 treys this season.
Both Shelter and Nettles have recorded double figures in each of the last three games for the Jags.
South Alabama continues to be one of the top free throw shooting teams in the Sun Belt, as the Jaguar women are knocking down 72.5 percent of their attempts at the charity stripe - second-best in the league. Individually, Siedah Banks leads the SBC in that category, shooting 83.5 percent at the foul line.
On Wednesday, the Blue Raiders captured their second-straight east division title with a 106-84 victory over Troy. With the win, Middle Tennessee extended its win-streak to 10 games and improved to 19-5 overall and 14-1 in conference play.
MTSU has recorded 94-points or more in four of its last five games - three times breaking the 100-point barrier. The Blue Raiders are tied with Stanford and Notre Dame for fifth nationally in scoring with 79.2 points per game. Middle Tennessee also ranks second in the nation with 9.7 treys per game and has hit 233 three-pointers this season. MTSU's .449 field goal percentage also ranks 19th in the NCAA.
"Right now offensively, Middle Tennessee is functioning better than any Sun Belt Conference team I have seen in my 10 years in the league," South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. "Their ability to shoot the ball from the perimeter, along with both (Alysha) Clark's and (Brandi) Brown's presence and ability to finish plays inside make them almost impossible to defend. The fact that it's "Senior Night" at their place and the emotions that will be running high, we will definitely have a tall order in front of us."
Sunday's game will be the final home game for six Blue Raiders - Chelsia Lymon, Jackie Pickel, Brandi Brown, Dana Garrett, Shytoria Davis and Alysha Clark. The Blue Raiders have also been tough at the defensive end of the floor.
Coming into action this weekend, Middle Tennessee leads the Sun Belt in steals with 12.7 per game - sixth nationally - and is forcing its opponents into 24.3 turnovers. Pickel leads the league and is sixth in the nation with 3.3 steals per game.
Clark - the defending SBC Player of the Year - is once again contending for All-American honors this season. The senior leads the conference and ranks third in the nation in scoring with 25.6 ppg. Last season, Clark led the NCAA in that same category. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn., also ranks in the top 10 nationally in rebounds (11.2 rpg - seventh) and field goal percentage (60.4 percent - eighth).
Middle Tennessee also has the top two three-point shooters in the Sun Belt in Brown and Anne Marie Lanning. Brown leads the league behind the arch, hitting 44 percent of her shots, while Lanning has hit 41.7 percent of her attempts. In the first meeting this season between the two clubs, Brown (4) and Lanning (3) combined to record seven of the Raiders' Mitchell Center record 17 treys.
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: Middle Tennessee holds a 13-4 advantage in the all-time series, including taking the last 12 meetings. South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri is 2-13 in the series versus the Blue Raiders and 1-5 in those meetings in Murfreesboro. Earlier this season, MTSU ran away from the Jags to pick up a 100-52 victory in Mobile. The 100 points were the most points ever scored by either team in the series and the 17 three-pointers by the Blue Raiders were also a new Mitchell Center record. South Alabama has played 10 previous times on Feb. 21 and is 6-4 in those games. The last time the Jaguars faced a team on this date was last season - a 63-48 win over Louisiana-Monroe. USA is 1-1 on this date during Pietri's tenure. The Jags and MTSU have never met on this date.
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