Box Score - South Alabama 57, Louisiana-Lafayette 47 (.pdf)
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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team held Louisiana-Lafayette to just 23.9 percent shooting, while knocking down 47.4 percent of its shot attempts to snap a 13-game skid and pick up its first conference win of the season, defeating the Ragin' Cajuns 57-47 Thursday morning at the Mitchell Center.

"In the words of (Former San Francisco 49er's quarterback) Steve Young 'It feels great to get the preverbal monkey off our back'," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said of ending the program's 13-game losing streak.  "We're proud of our kids. We asked them to play for something bigger than themselves today and to make sure that we gave it our all.  I thought we did that.  I'm just so proud of them.  

"I thought we did an outstanding job on the defensive end of the floor and that we just rebounded the basketball well also.  I'm proud of our kids for playing selfless on the offensive end of the floor.  We played a lot of situational basketball on offense and defense.  Everyone bought into their role today and actually starred in their role, so that's exciting. I'm just happy for the kids to get this win.

"We just have to work hard every day and work on getting better. We had an outstanding atmosphere today. I can't thank the marketing and promotions department enough for getting the school day together and getting the kids here. It was really loud in the gym, and I think that really helped us finish the game."

USA earned its first win since nearly two months in front of an announced crowd of 2,096 in its annual "Pack the House" game.

The Jaguars (4-15, 1-9 SBC) will now head to Monroe, La., to take on Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.  Tipoff versus the Warhawks is set 2 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

South Alabama received solid play in the post as freshman center Chyna Ellis and Taylor Jenkins combined for 22 points and 24 rebounds.  Ellis notched her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.  Ellis was 6-of-7 from the field and also posted three blocks.  Of her 13 rebounds, nine came at the defensive end of the floor.  

Jenkins nearly recorded a double-double as she had nine points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of action.

Breanna Hall also registered double digits in the win, ending the game with 12 points, her 15th double-figure scoring game this season.

Louisiana-Lafayette (13-6, 5-5 SBC) was led offensively by Keke Veal's 14 points, while Kia Wilridge added 12 points.  The trio of Veal, Wilridge and Jaylyn Gordon – ULL's top three scorers – as did the rest of the team, struggled to find its shooting touch, going a combined 11 for 46 from the field, including 3-of-17 from the arc.  

As a team, the Ragin' Cajuns nearly doubled the Jaguars on shot attempts (67-38), but could only convert 16 of those attempts.  ULL was also 3-for-21 from the three-point line.  

For the 11th time this season, Louisiana-Lafayette forced 20 or more turnovers in a game, as the Jaguars ended the day with 26.  

South Alabama off set the turnovers by controlling the glass, especially at the defensive end of the floor.  USA outrebounded ULL 49-34 for the game, but held a 40-16 advantage at the Cajuns end of the floor, limiting second-chance attempts.  Louisiana-Lafayette entered the game ranked second in the Sun Belt on the offensive glass.

"I thought our team really executed the game plan," Fowler said.  "They really sat down and guarded the basketball because Louisiana-Lafayette has a great three-point shooting team.  We just had to make them take contested 17-foot jump shots.  We contested pretty much every shot. We were also able to turn and block out as well."

Playing front of the large crowd, USA fed of the energy early on jumping out to a quick 7-0 advantage a little over two minutes into the contest.  However after hitting three of their first five shot attempts, the Jaguars would go cold over the next seven minutes, hitting just one field goal attempt.

ULL took advantage and outscored South Alabama 8-2 during that time to cut the deficit to one (9-8) after a bucket by Veal at the 14:29 mark.

Following a free throw by Jenkins, Ellis would score five straight points for USA to extend the Jag lead out to 15-8 with less than 10 to go in the first half.  

Later in the half, Veal knocked down a pair of free throws with eight minutes, 10 seconds showing on the clock – the first points for the Ragin' Cajuns in over six minutes.

Veal would continue to provide the offense for Louisiana-Lafayette as she trimmed the deficit to 17-14 at the 5:01 mark with two more shots from the charity stripe.  Veal's two free throws ended a stretch of 10-straight points for the Cajun guard.

On USA's next possession, Jenkins again hit one of her two attempts at the charity stripe.  The Jenkins free throw would ignite a spurt of seven-straight points for the Jags.  Ellis – who had nine points during the first half to lead South Alabama – recorded her third block of the period to get USA out in transition and Colby Davis drove the left baseline for a runner with under two minutes remaining in the half to put the Jaguars out on top by double figures (24-14).

With 36.1 seconds remaining, Robbie Brown hit a pair of free throws to end another four-minute scoreless streak for the Ragin' Cajuns.  ULL was 6-of-6 at the line in the first half, to off-set a 15.2 performance from the field as it was just 5-of-33 in the first half.

USA knocked down 10 of its 23 attempts for 43.5 percent shooting from the floor.  South Alabama also held a 27-17 advantage on the glass.

The Jaguars held control during the first five minutes of the second half, stretching their lead out to as much as 12 (35-23) following a trey by Amber Yelding from the left corner at the 15:18 mark.

With South Alabama still holding a 10-point advantage (39-29) with less than 10 minutes remaining, ULL cut the deficit to six at the 10:09 mark after buckets by Jodi Quinn and Gordon.  

A little over a minute later though, Daniels hit one of her two free throw attempts and then drained a three-pointer from the left corner to put USA up 43-33.

Veal, who had been held scoreless for the first 11-plus minutes of the second half had the answer for ULL as she knocked down a three of her own on the Cajuns' next possession.  A little over a minute later, Gordon intercepted a Jaguar pass and then found Brown open down the floor for layup to cut USA's advantage to five (43-38) with six minutes, 46 seconds showing on the clock.

Two possessions later though, Jenkins would bank in a three of her own from the top of the key to put South Alabama back out in front 46-38.

ULL would again narrow the South Alabama advantage to six (46-40) at the 5:25 mark, but Webb would hit a pair of free throws in place of Daniels who briefly left the game after a hard foul driving in for a layup following a steal.  With under four to go, Hall drove the right side of the paint and found Jenkins open for a 10-foot jumper along the baseline to give USA a 50-40 advantage.

Over the final two minutes, South Alabama would hit six of its eight attempts at the foul line and hold ULL to just one made basket as the Jaguars held on for the 10-point victory.  

The free-throw line was the difference in the second half as USA hit 14 of its 19 attempts at the stripe, while ULL was 6-for-14.

NOTES:  The meeting between South Alabama and Louisiana-Lafayette marked the 39th in the all-time series between the two programs.  South Alabama now holds a 35-13 advantage in the series and ended ULL's three-game win streak in the series.  The Jaguars hold an 18-4 lead in games played in Mobile.  This year marks the fourth year of the program's annual "Pack the House" event.  South Alabama is now 3-1 in those games.  The win versus the Ragin' Cajuns snapped a 13-game losing streak by the Jaguars and was the first conference win this season for the program.  USA outrebounded ULL 49-34 for the game, but held a 40-16 advantage at the Cajuns end of the floor, limiting second-chance attempts.  Louisiana-Lafayette entered the game ranked second in the Sun Belt on the offensive glass.  Chyna Ellis recorded her fourth double-double of the season with her 13 point-13 rebound performance versus ULL.  Ellis' 13 rebounds tied a season high for the freshman center.  The 11 rebounds by Taylor Jenkins were a new career-best for the junior forward.

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).

—USA—