Game Fourteen - vs. North Texas Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team returns home Wednesday evening to welcome Sun Belt Conference West Division leader North Texas in the Lady Jags’ league home opener.  

Tip-off between the Lady Jags and the Mean Green is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.  Live stats and web streaming for the contest can be accessed at www.usajaguars.com.  

South Alabama comes into its Sun Belt Conference home opener with a 7-6 overall mark and a 0-1 record in the league.  This past Saturday, USA dropped its conference opener, falling 60-39 at Middle Tennessee.  The loss was the third straight for the Jaguars - a season-long streak.

The Lady Jags were solid defensively in the first half and headed into the locker room with just their second lead of the season at the break at 22-20, but 16 second-half turnovers led to 23 Blue Raider points, leading MTSU to the 21-point victory.  

As has been the case in 11 of the previous 12 games, South Alabama struggled offensively in the opening period of play, shooting just 25.8 percent from the floor.  USA is averaging just 26.2 points per game and shooting just 29.3 percent from the field and 25.6 percent from the arc in the first half, while its opponents are shooting 37.1 percent from the floor.

USA leads the league in scoring defense (56.5 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.359), three-point field goals (6.6) and turnover margin (+3.5).

Despite the loss, Taylor Ammons got off to a solid start in league play.  The senior forward from Vicksburg, Miss., led USA with 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.  Of her 16 boards, 12 came on the defensive end of the floor.  The double-double was the fourth of the season for Ammons and the sixth of her career.  She has now posted a double-double in three of her last five games.

Offensively, the duo of Mansa El (11.2 ppg) and Camille Reynolds (10.8 ppg) continue to pace the club.  El ranks 16th in the SBC in scoring, while Reynolds is 17th.

Under first-year head coach Karen Aston, North Texas is off to its best start recent years, as the Mean Green are 9-6 and a perfect 2-0 in the Sun Belt.  The 2-0 start in the league marks just the third time the program has done so and the first since the 2004-05 season.  With a win on Wednesday, UNT would be 3-0 in the SBC for just the second time ever.  

“I’m not at all surprised at the success that coach Aston has had immediately at North Texas,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “She established a pattern of success at Charlotte and inherited, in my mind, some very capable players at North Texas.  She has done exceptionally well with them.  They are very solid in everything they do, both offensively and defensively and they are obviously playing well right now, so it’s a challenge that we will look forward to and see if we can answer.”

Like the Jags, North Texas already holds a win over a BCS-conference foe (Alabama, 69-63) during the non-conference schedule.  Of their six losses, all have been by 11 points or less, including a seven-point loss at Arizona (69-62) and a nine-point loss at 23rd-ranked Texas.  As a team, North Texas is allowing just 57.5 points per game to its opponents and just 37.3 percent shooting, both of which rank third in the league.

North Texas is led offensively by the trio of Jasmine Godbolt, Tamara Torru and Brittney Hudson.  Godbolt - a preseason second-team all-SBC selection - leads the club in both scoring and rebounding as she is averaging 13.4 ppg - tied for ninth in the league - and 8.7 rpg - second-best in the conference.  Guided by Godbolt on the glass, UNT leads the Sun Belt in rebounding margin (+7.1) - which is 37th best in the latest NCAA rankings.

Torru is second on the club in scoring with 12.6 points per outing - 12th in the SBC.  The senior guard is one of the top long-range shooters in the league, as her 41.9 three-point field goal percentage is third in the conference.  She also ranks among the top 15 of the league in nine other statistical categories.

Both Godbolt and Torru have four double-doubles apiece this season.

Fellow senior guard Brittney Hudson is also having an all-conference type of season thus far.  She is third on the team and 18th in the league in scoring with 10.3 points per game.  Hudson also leads the SBC in steals, averaging 2.5 per game.  

The Mean Green has been paced by Ash’Lynne Evans in conference play, with Evans scoring 18 points in each of the Mean Green’s two conference wins.

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: The meeting between South Alabama and North Texas will be the 20th in the all-time series.  UNT holds a 13-5 advantage in the series, including a 5-4 mark in Mobile against the Lady Jags.  Under Pietri, the Mean Green is 12-6 against USA and 5-4 at the Mitchell Center.  South Alabama has won four of the last six meetings in the series, including last season’s, a 79-61 victory for USA in Denton.
The meeting between Pietri and North Texas head coach Karen Aston will be the first between the two coaches.  The last time the Lady Jags and the Mean Green squared off in the Mitchell Center, USA’s Mansa El was on the opposite bench as she ran the point for North Texas as a freshman.  While at UNT, El averaged 6.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg and became the only true freshman in school history to start 29 games for the Mean Green.  She also led the team with 72 assists. This will be her first game against her old team, since she missed last season’s meeting in Denton due to injury.  South Alabama holds an all-time mark of 17-10 in Sun Belt Conference home openers.  Under Pietri USA is 7-4 in conference home openers.  Last season, USA fell 67-59 to Middle Tennessee in the Lady Jags’ conference opener.
 
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