Louisiana-Monroe Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – After picking up a two-point victory over Western Kentucky earlier this week, the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team will continue its three-game homestand on Saturday when the Lady Jags welcome Louisiana-Monroe to the Mitchell Center.  The contest versus ULM will be game one of a double header with the men’s teams.

Tip-off versus the Warhawks is set for 5:05 p.m.  Live stats and video can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com. 

“(Louisiana-Monroe) is a very balanced team,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “They have an experienced point guard, experienced post players and experienced wing players.  They are very aggressive on the glass and play exceptionally hard.  They also are well coached by Mona Martin.  It just goes to show you that every game in the Sun Belt is going to be a struggle and it’s very important that our players understand that, while we did win a game on Wednesday, that game is over.  We now need to move forward and try to focus on winning another.”

South Alabama comes into this weekend’s match up versus Louisiana-Monroe with after improving to 10-7 on the year and 2-3 in the Sun Belt.  On Wednesday, the Lady Jags held on to pick up a 62-60 victory over Western Kentucky in Mobile.  USA led by as much as 12 early in the second half only to see the Lady Toppers come back and tie the contest back up in the closing minutes.  Taylor Ammons’ layup with 21 seconds on the clock proved to be the game-winner though for the Jags.

Senior forward Christian Shelter and junior guard Sarda Peterson continue to pace the Lady Jags at the offensive end.  Shelter leads the team with 12.1 points per outing and ranks second on the club in rebounding with 5.1 boards per game.  The Mobile native is shooting 42.6 percent from beyond the arc - sixth in the SBC - and leads the league with 2.4 treys a game.

Peterson is also averaging double-digits for the Jaguars with 11.7 ppg, and like Shelter, Peterson has also been extremely strong from the three-point line, knocking down 41.2 percent of her attempts and averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game.  Both tallies rank among the league leaders.

As a team, USA leads the conference in six different categories - scoring margin (+9.2), three-pointers per game (8.0), three-point shooting (37.8), field goal percentage defense (35.4), three-point field goal percentage defense (22.9) and defensive rebounds (27.9).  South Alabama also ranks second in the league in scoring defense, allowing just 56.0 ppg to its opponents.
 
Louisiana-Monroe enters the contest versus the Lady Jags with an 8-9 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the conference.  On Wednesday, ULM nearly pulled off the upset at West Division leader UALR.  With 15 seconds to go, the Warhawks pulled to within four, but the Trojans went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in the closing seconds to preserve the win.  ULM also cost itself by committing 32 turnovers.

The Warhawks are led offensively by the duo of Courtney Kassie and Larrie Williams.  Kassie paces the club with 10.5 points per game, but Williams is close behind her with 10.3.  Kassie is also shooting 34.7 percent from three-point line, which ranks 10th in the SBC.  As a team, ULM is shooting 30.5 percent from the arc.

The strength of the club this season has been in the rebounding department, as Louisiana-Monroe have been out rebounded just three times this season.  ULM ranks eighth nationally with a +10.5 rebounding margin.  The Warhawks lead the Sun Belt in five different categories, including rebounding margin, rebounding offense (43.6), offensive rebounds (294), defensive rebounding percentage (.725) and offensive rebounding percentage (.428).

Senior forward Sannisha Williams is pulling down 7.4 rebounds per game - ninth-best in the SBC - and sits just outside double figures in scoring with 9.9 ppg. 

ULM is averaging 64.4 ppg and like the Lady Jags, the Warhawks have been stingy on defense, surrendering just 59.5 ppg - fourth in the league.

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:  Saturday’s game against Louisiana-Monroe will be the 13th in the all-time series.  South Alabama holds an 8-4 advantage in the all-time series, including a 4-2 advantage in games played in Mobile under Pietri, USA is 6-3 in the series and 3-1 in games played in Mobile. Last season, the Lady Jags picked up a 74-62 victory in Monroe versus the Warhawks.  The meeting between Pietri and Louisiana-Monroe head coach Mona Martin will be the ninth between the two coaches.  Pietri holds a 6-3 advantage in those previous meetings.  All nine of the previous meetings have come at both coaches’ present schools.