Game 24 - vs. Texas-Arlington Game Notes (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team returns home Saturday afternoon to host Texas-Arlington. Tip-off versus the Mavericks is set for 2:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.
Live stats, the Jaguars' audio broadcast and web streaming of the contest versus Texas-Arlington can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.
The game against UTA will be part of the national "It's on Us" campaign that was established this past September in hopes of advancing the goal of preventing sexual assault. South Alabama's game at Georgia State next week will also be part of the initiative. Members of both teams will wear their Sun Belt "It's On Us" t-shirts during both their pregame and halftime warm up periods of the games. USA, along with other Sun Belt member institutions, is participating in order to bring awareness to the campaign. The organization of these rallies will act as a way of demonstrating that sexual assault is an unacceptable behavior, that safe harboring perpetrators is intolerable, and that support for victims is imperative.
South Alabama (4-19, 1-13 SBC) comes into Saturday's contest after falling 78-67 at Troy on Thursday night. The 11-point loss was the four-straight for the Jaguars and their 13th-straight Sun Belt road defeat.
The Trojans shot 44.3 percent from the floor and forced USA into 31 turnovers, leading to 37 points for Troy. The 31 turnovers tied a season-high for the Jags.
USA did manage to post a pair of season-best at both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. South Alabama knocked down a season high 10 three-pointers and also recorded 12 steals.
Breanna Hall led the Jaguars with 18 points – her 19th double figure outing of the season – as she had five of USA's 10 long-range shots. Hall leads the team and tied for fourth in the conference in scoring with 15.4 ppg. The Mesquite, Texas, native also ranks among the league leaders in field-goal percentage (15th – .430), free-throw shooting (5th – .810), three-point shooting (1st – .436) and three-pointers per game (4th – 2.4). She has also scored double figures in 31 of her last 35 games dating back to the '13-14 season.
Colby Davis and Amber Yelding also chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench in the loss.
Daniels has been solid defensively in her first season in a Jag uniform. She leads the club with 39 steals and is tied for 11th in the SBC with 1.8 steals per game. Daniels has had three or more steals in five of her last six outings, including a three at Troy.
In the first meeting this season versus the Mavericks, Hall (16) and Daniels (14) combined to record 30 points. Hall was 5-of-12 from the field, while Daniels hit four of her nine shot attempts. USA led by three midway through the first half, but went scoreless for an eight-minute stretch, leading to a 16-0 run by the Mavericks. The Jaguars got as close as six late, before falling 59-49.
Freshman post player Chyna Ellis also continues to have a strong first collegiate season. Ellis is coming off a nine point, 10 rebound performance at Troy in her last outing. She has four double-doubles on the year and has led USA on the glass 11 times this season. The Cordova, Tenn., native currently ranks seventh in the Sun Belt in rebounding with 7.2 per game and is fourth in blocks with 1.7. She leads the Jags with 38 rejections on the year.
"Texas-Arlington has continued to get better since the first time we faced them," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "They are playing with a lot of poise right now. They are a solid, defensive-minded club. We just played two-straight games that were an up-and-down game and played at a totally different pace, so we will have to adjust to that.
Texas-Arlington (12-10, 6-7 SBC) enters play this weekend sitting in sixth place in the latest conference standings. The Mavericks dropped a 65-58 overtime decision on the road to Texas State on Thursday night. Prior to the loss, UTA had won its last three outings.
"UTA has great size and length. In the first meeting, they caused us problems with their multiple defenses and how they guarded in the press and their 3-1-1 trap. We are going to have to rebound and shot the ball well against them on Saturday and then as has been key for us, we are going to have to protect the basketball."
The Mavericks held a nine-point lead (52-43) with two minutes left in regulation, but Texas State rallied back and banked in a three-pointer to send the game into overtime. The Bobcats then pulled away in the extra session to pick up the seven-point victory.
Chaun Williams tied her career high with 19 points versus the Bobcats, while freshman center Rebekah Van Dijk ended the night with her third consecutive double-double and 12th overall (13 points and 16 rebounds).
Van Dijk – who seems to be the frontrunner for SBC Freshman of the Year honors – is averaging a double-double on the year with 13.1 ppg and 10.8 rpg. She is 11th in the league in scoring and leads the Sun Belt in rebounds, field-goal percentage (.571) and blocks (2.0). Her 7.1 defensive rebounds per game are also the most of any player in the conference.
In conference action, Van Dijk has registered 33 of her 43 blocks. As a team, UTA has been outstanding in that category as it has averaged 4.8 blocks per game overall and 5.5 blocks versus league foes. The Mavericks pace the Sun Belt in that category and ranks second in scoring defense (54.5), field-goal percentage defense (.357), rebounding defense (35.8), assists (14.2) and assists/turnover ratio (0.9).
LaShanda Green fifth in the SBC in assists, dishing out 3.6 per outing. Green is also tied for eighth in three-point shooting, knocking down 34.7 percent of her long-range attempts. Green also has 46 steals on the year. Cierra Johnson ranks fourth in the conference in steals with 2.2 per game and leads the Mavericks with 49.
Williams – who played her 100th game in a UTA uniform on Thursday night – also has 54 assists and 30 steals so far this season. Williams sits just outside double figures on the year with 9.5 ppg.
NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Texas-Arlington will mark the fifth in the all-time series between the two programs. The series is currently tied 1-1. UTA won the first meeting this season, picking up a 59-49 victory in Arlington. USA holds a 1-0 lead in the series in Mobile, having defeated the Mavs in last season's regular season finale. South Alabama rallied back and captured a 60-57 victory in that game. South Alabama is 2-21 in its last 23 Sun Belt games. In Sun Belt play, both South Alabama now leads the conference with 5.9 three-pointers per game..
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).
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