Game 22 - vs. Georgia State Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will continue home stand Saturday afternoon when it host Georgia State.  Tip-off versus the Panthers is set for 2:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.  

Live stats, the Jaguars' audio broadcast and web streaming of the contest versus Georgia State can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.

South Alabama (4-17, 1-11 SBC) comes into Saturday's contest after dropping its second-straight two-point decision, falling 46-44 to Texas State on Wednesday.  

The Jaguars shot 27.6 percent from the field against the Bobcats and struggled from the outside, connecting on four of its 20 attempts from the three-point line, including 1-of-10 in the second half.  

USA protected the ball much better against Texas State, committing a season-low 11 turnovers in the loss.

Breanna Hall recorded her 17th double-figure outing with 14 points, while Rachel Cumbo registered her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Hall leads the team and tied for fifth 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 (second – .823) and three-pointers per game (tied third – 2.3).  She leads the Sun Belt and ranks 20th in the latest NCAA rankings from beyond the arc, knocking down 43.4 percent of her long-range attempts.  Hall has now scored double figures in 29 of her last 33 games dating back to the '13-14 season.

After struggling at the defensive end of the floor for much of the season, South Alabama has been much better as of late.  Over the past three games, the Jags are allowing just 49.3 points per game and holding opponents to just 29.7 percent shooting and 18.8 percent from the arc.

"I feel that we've been pretty good defensively in four of our last five ball games," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "We've really started to hone in at that end of the floor and we are going to have to be sure to do that on Saturday against Georgia State."

As a team, South Alabama ranks fourth in the league in blocks with 4.1.  The 87 blocks by USA are the most since the '08-09 season (155).  Chyna Ellis paces the club in that category with 35 blocks this season.  The freshman center is tied with Texas-Arlington's Rebekah Van Dijk for second in the league with 1.8 blocks per game.  Ellis has registered 22 of her 35 rejections against Sun Belt foes.

Georgia State (9-12, 4-8 SBC) enters the game versus the Jaguars fresh off a 82-54 win at Georgia Southern on Thursday night.  Prior to the 28-point win over the Eagles, GSU had dropped seven of its last eight outings.

The Panthers made nine of their first 10 shots and jumped out to a 22-4 lead seven minutes into the game.  GSU knocked down four three-point baskets during the opening run and ended 9-of-20 from the outside, its fifth game with 9 or more this season.

Freshman guard Makeba Ponder returned to the Panther lineup after missing two games with an injury and poured in 20 points, her fifth game of 20 or more points this season.  In her first season with the Panthers, Ponder has come in and made an immediate impact as she leads the club in scoring (11.3) and ranks as one of the top three-point shooters in the Sun Belt.  She is second in the league with 2.4 treys per game and her three-point percentage (.385) is fifth-best in the conference.

Brittany Logan, a 6-4 senior, is also averaging double digits with 10.5 ppg and ranks fourth in the SBC on the glass, pulling down 8.5 per outing.  She has 12 double-figure scoring, eight double-figure rebounding games and six double-doubles on the year.  Logan .520 field-goal percentage is third-highest in the league.

Fellow senior Alisha Andrews is averaging 9.0 ppg and dishing out 4.4 assists - third in the Sun Belt.  Andrews leads the conference in assists-turnover ratio and is tied for third in steals with 2.3 per game.  Kayla Nolan sits just outside double digits with 9.7 ppg.

"Georgia State is a very talented team," Fowler said.  "They have a lot of different weapons on their team that can score.  You can't just key in on one or two players when you are on defense.  Different players can put the ball in the basket on any night for them.  They also have great size in the post.  They have a stretch four layer in Morgan Jackson who is 6-1, but can shoot the three.

"At the defensive end of the floor, they play multiple defenses and give you different looks.  We've got to be prepared to get in our offensive sets based on their defensive sets.  Those are things that concern you when playing Georgia State.  We've got to take care of the basketball and keep Georgia State off the boards.  We also can't let them get good looks from the outside."

As a team, Georgia State comes into play this weekend as the second-best free-throw shooting team in the Sun Belt, connecting on 71.7 percent of its attempts.  Ashley Watson is fourth individually in that category at 80.7 percent.

GSU is also third in the conference in three-point percentage (.340), threes per game (5.4), rebounding (39.6) and offensive rebounds (14.4).

NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Georgia State will mark the sixth in the all-time series between the two programs.  Georgia State holds a 3-2 lead in the series.  The two programs split last season's two meetings with each holding serve on its home floor.  South Alabama holds a 2-0 lead in the series on its home floor, including a 65-57 win over GSU last season in the Mitchell Center.  South Alabama is 2-19 in its last 21 Sun Belt games.

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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