Game 12 - UALR Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team returns home Saturday afternoon to face Sun Belt Conference West Division leader UALR in its conference home opener.  Tip-off versus the Trojans is set for noon at the Mitchell Center.  Following the game versus UALR, USA will break for a week for the Christmas holidays.

Live stats and live web streaming for the game versus the Trojans can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.  

South Alabama (7-4, 0-2 SBC) comes into its home conference opener after suffering a disappointing 55-54 loss at Central Florida on Wednesday night.  USA led by 18 with under eight to go, but gave up a 22-3 run to close the game.

USA played without leading scorer Mary Nixon (14.0 ppg) versus the Knights and her status versus UALR is still to be determined.  

Senior guard Camille Reynolds has played well as of late and recording three-straight double-figure outings for the Lady Jags, including 12 points at UCF.   Reynolds is averaging 12.0 points per game during that stretch and is shooting 50 percent both from the field (12-of-24) and from the three-point line (8-of-16).  

Junior forward Ronneka Robertson leads the club on the glass as she is tied for sixth in the Sun Belt in rebounding with 7.2 per outing and tied for fifth in defensive rebounds with 4.9 per game. She has posted six or more boards in nine of her last 10 games, including seven or more in each of the last six games.

Freshman post player Brianna Wright leads the SBC in field-goal percentage.  She is shooting 55.4 percent from the field. Brittany Webb and Meghan Dunn also rank among the league leaders in three-point shooting.  Webb is fifth at 39.3 percent, while Dunn is sixth at 38.6 percent.  Dunn also ranks fourth in treys per game with 2.0 per outing.

As a team, the Jaguars lead the league in three-pointers per game (7.4) and three-point field-goal defense (.204), and are second in scoring defense (55.0), scoring margin (+7.6), assists (13.4), rebounding defense (36.9), rebounding margin (+3.5) and assists-turnover ratio (0.8).  USA is also third in field-goal defense (38.1) and three-point percentage (31.9).

USA ranks 10th nationally in three-point field-goal defense and 27th in three-pointers per game.

UALR (9-1, 2-0 SBC) enters the weekend after picking up its eighth-straight win with a 78-51 victory over Tulsa at home on Tuesday.  During the current win streak, the Trojans are allowing just 48.0 ppg.

“I think right now, it’s probably safe to say that (UALR) is playing the best of anyone in our conference as we speak today,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “They’ve won eight in a row and the last seven, they’ve won by an average of 22 points a game, so they are winning soundly.  They are doing at both ends of the court.  They are ranked second in the nation in field-goal percentage defense and 33rd in the nation out of 345 teams in field-goal percentage offense.  We have a tremendous challenge in front of us to compete with these guys because everyone who has played them in recent history has gotten thumped.  Hopefully, we are up to that challenge.”

Sophomore guard Taylor Gault - a first-team all-SBC preseason selection - ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 18.4 ppg and eighth in three-point shooting (.375).  In the two meetings versus USA last season, Gault averaged 21 points and 4.5 rebounds.

Senior guard Jannette Merriex is ranked among the conference leaders in scoring (15th - 12.0 ppg), field-goal percentage (12th - .478), three-point shooting (third - .439) and three-pointers per game (second - 2.5).

“UALR is constructed a little bit differently this year,” Pietri added.  “In the past, they’ve played with two post players and really this season, they are playing with one true post.  They are really playing with just four guards and they are very efficient.  Gault and Merriex can hurt you from the arc.  UALR run great offense and have been as efficient as this year as they have ever been.  At the end of the day, this might be the best team coach (Joe) Foley has ever had.”

The Trojans are led in the post by Hannah Fohne.  The 6-2 junior forward is averaging 7.0 points per game and a team-high 7.2 boards per outing - tied for sixth in the league.  Fohne also ranks among the league leaders in shooting, knocking down 53.1 percent of her attempts, third in the Sun Belt.  

Fellow junior Taylor Ford is averaging 8.3 ppg and leads the SBC with 5.0 apg.

The Trojans lead the Sun Belt and rank 39th nationally in scoring defense (52.6).  UALR also leads the SBC in scoring margin (+16.1), field-goal percentage (.439), field-goal percentage defense (.300) – second in the NCAA – three-point field-goal percentage (.379), assists (14.8), assists-turnover ratio (1.0) and blocks (6.1) - ninth-best in the country.  UALR is just behind USA in three-point field goal defense (.216) – which ranks 12th in the NCAA.

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 UALR will be the 19th in the all-time series. USA holds an 11-7 advantage in the all-time series, but the Trojans have taken six of the last seven meetings, including four-straight.  USA is 9-6 against UALR under head coach Rick Pietri.  The Jaguars dropped the two meetings last season, including a 60-54 decision in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.  The meeting between Pietri and UALR head coach Joe Foley will be the 13th between the two coaches. The two coaches have split (6-6) the 12 previous meetings with all of them coming at the two coaches’ current schools. South Alabama holds an all-time mark of 18-10 in Sun Belt Conference home openers.  Under Pietri, USA is 8-4 in conference home openers and has won four of its last five SBC openers. Last season, USA defeated North Texas, 69-60 in the Lady Jags’ conference home-opener.  The Lady Jags have played four times on Dec. 22. In those contests, USA holds a 2-2 record.  The last time USA played on this date was during the 2010-11 season where the Jaguars defeated Lipscomb 69-41 in Mobile, Ala.  USA is 2-1 on this date under Pietri.  Junior forward Ronneka Robertson has posted six or more boards in nine of her last 10 games, including seven or more in each of the last six games.  Camille Reynolds has recorded double figures in each of her last three games.

-- USA --