Game 25 - at Georgia State Game Notes (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team head out on the road for a two-game road swing, beginning with Georgia State on Thursday night. Tip-off versus the Panthers is set for 4 p.m. (CT) at the GSU Sports Arena.
USA will also travel to take on Georgia Southern on Saturday in Statesboro, Ga., in a game which can be seen on ESPN3.
Live stats, the Jaguars' audio broadcast and web streaming of the contest versus Georgia State can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.
South Alabama (4-20, 1-14 SBC) comes into Thursday night's contest versus Georgia State after dropping it's fifth-straight game over the weekend. USA fell 63-46 at home to Texas-Arlington on Saturday.
The key stretch came during an 11-minute stretch in the first half where South Alabama recorded just one made basket and three total points, while UTA outscored the Jaguars 20-3.
Breanna Hall led USA offensively in the loss to the Mavericks with 13 points - her 20th double-figure outing this season and her 32nd in her last 36 games. She leads the team and tied for fourth in the conference in scoring with 15.3 ppg. Hall also ranks among the league leaders in free-throw shooting (3rd – .818), three-point shooting (1st – .426) and three-pointers per game (T2nd – 2.4). Entering play this week, Hall ranks 18th in the NCAA in three-point percentage.
Freshman guard Marquita Daniels (8.6 ppg) had a career day in the first outing versus the Panthers. The Atlanta, Ga., native recorded a career-high 37 points on 13-of-18 shooting and 8-of-12 shooting at the foul line. Her 37 points were the most by a Jaguar women's player at the Mitchell Center and the first 35-plus point outing by a South Alabama player since the 1989-90 season.
Daniels also had a career-high five steals against GSU. She leads the team with 40 steals and is tied for 12th in the Sun Belt in steals. Daniels is averaging 2.1 spg in conference play.
Fellow freshman Chyna Ellis 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 third in blocks with 1.7. She leads the Jags with 41 rejections on the year. Ellis is shooting 43.3 percent from the field in league play.
In SBC action, South Alabama has knocked down 5.8 treys per game - second-most in the league.
Georgia State (10-13, 5-9 SBC) enters play this week after falling 71-61 at Texas State on Saturday. The Panthers are currently in a three-way battle with Appalachian State and Louisiana-Monroe for a spot in next month's conference tournament.
GSU shot 27 percent in the second half in the loss, while the Bobcats knocked down 11 three-pointers.
True freshman Makeba Ponder ranks 14th in the Sun Belt in scoring with 11.3 points per game. Ponder is shooting 40.2 percent from the floor and is fourth in the SBC in three-point percentage (.393). She also leads the conference in treys per game with 2.5. In the first meeting with the Jaguars, Ponder came off the bench to record 19 points with all five of her made baskets coming from beyond the arc.
GSU shot 57.1 percent in its 84-78 win over the Jags in Mobile, and dished out 10 assists on its 32 made baskets.
"We can't let the game get up into the 80's," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "We are going to need to hold Georgia State in the low 70s or high 60s if we are going to have a chance. They have great size and they really pounded the ball inside in our first meeting this season. Georgia State does a great job of having both an inside and outside presence. We can't let them dominate the paint on Thursday.
"We had a great offensive burst out of Marquita [Daniels] in the first meeting, but we are going to need a more balanced offensive attack. We've got to be able to get inside the paint and score against them. It always comes down to us defending the paint, rebounding and limiting our turnovers in order to give ourselves an opportunity to win."
The Panthers scored 38 of their 84 points versus the Jags inside the paint. Leading the way in the post in that meeting was Brittany Logan, who had 16 points and eight rebounds in just 16 minutes of play.
Logan is averaging 10.6 ppg and ranks fourth in the SBC on the glass with 8.3 boards per outing. The 6-4 senior is also second in the league in field-goal percentage, connecting on 51.5 percent of her shot attempts.
Fellow senior Alisha Andrews has been outstanding directing the Panther attack. She is third in the SBC in assists, dishing out 4.7 per outing. Against the Jaguars earlier this year, Andrews had 10 assists. She also had 15 points in that game.
She leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.1). Andrews also ranks fifth in the Sun Belt in steals 2.2 per game.
As a team, the Panthers rank second in the SBC in three-pointers per game (5.6) and rebounding margin (2.4), while also ranking third in three-point percentage (.347), free-throw percentage (.723) and offensive rebounds (14.2).
NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Georgia State will mark the seventh in the all-time series between the two programs. GSU holds a 4-2 lead in the series. The Panthers took the first meeting this season, defeating the Jaguars 84-78 in Mobile on Feb. 7. Georgia State holds a 2-0 lead in the series on its home floor, including a 63-55 win over USA last season at the GSU Sports Arena. South Alabama is 2-22 in its last 24 Sun Belt games following the loss to UTA last weekend. The Jaguars have dropped 17-straight road games dating back to last season and 25 of their last 26 away from the Mitchell Center dating back to the end of the 2012-13 season entering the game versus Georgia State. USA has also lost 13-straight Sun Belt road contests.
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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