Box Score - South Alabama 65, Georgia State 57 (.pdf)

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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team remained perfect in Sun Belt Conference action Saturday afternoon as the Jaguars picked up a 65-57 victory over first-year league member Georgia State at the Mitchell Center.  

"Our players are playing with so much confidence right now," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "To come out and have a great start — Rachel (Cumbo) made some threes early and Ronneka (Robertson) made a couple of big baskets in the post — gave us some confidence right away.  We just played inside out.  We did exactly what we wanted to.  They really took away Meghan Dunn tonight, but Breanna (Hall) was able to step up and make some plays, so it was a team effort.  I couldn't be more proud of how we fought, hung in there and the way we were able to finish the game and be able to get off to a 2-0 start in the Sun Belt."

USA (4-8, 2-0 SBC) will now head out on the road for a pair of league games, beginning with Arkansas-Little Rock on Wednesday.  Tip-off versus the Trojans is set for 7 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.

South Alabama was led offensive by Rachel Cumbo's career-high 20 points.  Cumbo was 7-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the three-point line.  The junior guard/forward is now shooting 55.3 percent from the three-point line this season and has knocked down eight of her 11 attempts in conference play.  Cumbo also pulled down seven rebounds in her 30 minutes of action before fouling out.  

Breanna Hall also finished in double digits, recording 11 of her 12 points in the second half.  Hall was 3-of-6 from the field and 4-of-7 at the foul line.   Colby Davis chipped in with 10 points and Ronneka Robertson nearly notched her first double-double of the season with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  

Georgia State (5-9, 1-1 SBC) was paced by Kayla Nolan's 17 points.  Nolan was 7-of-17 from the floor.  Kendra Long had 12 points for GSU and Gaby Moss ended the contest with nine of her own.

The Panthers did manage to force 21 turnovers, 13 coming off of steals, but USA still managed to hold a 19-17 advantage in the points off turnovers category.  

South Alabama outshot GSU as the Jaguars knocked down 40.7 of their attempts, while the Panthers were 20-of-63 on the night for 31.7 percent.  The key stat was behind the arc where USA connected on eight of its 17 attempts for 47.1 percent.  Georgia State was just 4-of-22 for 18.2 percent.  In its conference opener, South Alabama also held Western Kentucky to 4-of-22 shooting from the three-point line.  

Cumbo was on fire in the first half knocking down five of her seven shot attempts and all four of her three-pointers.  The Houston, Texas, native got started on the Jaguars' first possession, draining a three from the left wing.  Cumbo then hit a jumper inside the arc a minute later.

Led by the play of Long and Nolan, Georgia State battled back and grabbed its first lead of the afternoon (14-13) after Nolan sank a pair of free throws.  Nolan intercepted a pass and then was fouled hard going for a layup at the 14:16 mark.

Holding 24-22 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the opening half, South Alabama retook control as the Jags went on a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to extend their lead out to 33-24.  After Hall hit one of her two free-throw opportunities, USA came up with the rebound to extend the possession.  Cumbo then drained another trey from the left wing.  Following a Panther basket, Webb hit a runner from the left side and Cumbo then connected on her fourth three of the first half to put South Alabama up nine with 1:58 to go.

Moss knocked down a jumper on Georgia State's ensuing possession to end the Jaguar run and then just before the intermission, Ashley Watson connected from 12-feet out to trim the Jaguar lead to 33-28.

In the second half, opened up an eight-point advantage (43-35) with 13-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game after back-to-back baskets by Davis and Jennifer Johnson.  Georgia State began to battle back and narrowed its deficit to 46-41 on a Mariam Hannoun bucket with less than 10 to go, but Hall had the answer for USA on the ensuing possession.  Taylor Jenkins found Hall open on the right side of the arc for a trey and then on the Jaguars' next trip down the floor, Meghan Dunn found the junior guard open in the same spot for another three, extending USA's lead to 11.  Following a bucket by Nolan, Robertson powered her way to the basket and Hall then capped off the 10-2 South Alabama run with a pair of free throws.  The free throws by Hall gave South Alabama its largest lead of the game 13 (56-43) with six minutes, 50 seconds showing on the clock.  

Still leading by 13 with under four to play, South Alabama looked to be in control.  However, coming out of the final media time out, Georgia State decided to use its full court press.  Over the next minute, the Panther pressure got to the Jaguars, culminating in four-straight USA turnovers and seven unanswered GSU points.  

With the visitors now trailing 60-54, Dunn broke the pressure at the 2:30 mark and raced down the floor for a layup to end the Panther threat.  The bucket was the first for the Jaguars' leading scorer as she had been held scoreless to that point.

GSU kept battling and trimmed South Alabama's lead to four (61-57) with a minute to go on a three-pointer by Long, but that was as close as the Panthers would get as Hall answered with another big shot on the ensuing possession as USA held on to take the eight-point victory.

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

NOTES:  With the win, South Alabama evened the all-time series to 2-2 and improved to 2-0 in games played in Mobile. The 2-0 start to conference play is the first for the Jaguars since the 2009-10 SBC schedule with that mark.  USA has been perfect after its first two conference games nine times – '09-'10, '08-'09, '04-'05, '03-'04, 89-'90, '88-'89, '87-'88, '86-'87 and '85-'86 – since the Sun Belt began regular-season conference play back during the 1984-85 season.  The 20 –points by Rachel Cumbo were a new career-high for the sophomore, eclipsing her previous high of 19 set at Colorado.  Cumbo – who leads the conference in three-point shooting (.553) – has hit eight of her 11 attempts in her two Sun Belt games.  Breanna Hall's 12 points were the most for the junior guard since recording 13 at Southern Miss earlier this year.  USA has held its two Sun Belt opponents to 8-of-44 shooting (.182) from the three-point line.  With her 10 rebounds, Ronneka Robertson has now recorded double figures in that category six times this season.

—USA—