Game 12: at Georgia Southern Game Notes (.pdf)MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will open up a two-game Sun Belt Conference road trip Thursday night as the Jaguars take on Georgia Southern. Tip-off versus the Eagles is set for 4 p.m. (CT) at Hanner Fieldhouse.
This week's games will be the first conference road games for the Jaguars this season. USA will also face Georgia State in Atlanta, Ga., on Saturday.
"Going out on the road is something for us that in the past has been tough for us, but fortunately this season, we have already shown that we can go out on the road and get some wins as we have two road wins so far this season," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "Georgia Southern is a team with some great size in the post. They also have some solid guard play led by (Angel) McGowan. She's already earned player of the week honors this season in our league.
"Georgia Southern runs a lot of multiple motion offenses and they also play multiple defenses, mixing in their man with their zone. Their size is going to be a big challenge for us, so we are going to have to really take care of the paint and rebound the basketball."
The Eagles have six players that are 6-0 or better, including four over 6-2.
Live stats and web streaming – both video and audio – for the contest can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com. Fans can also keep up with in-match updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.
South Alabama (4-7, 0-2 SBC) comes into its Sun Belt road opener against Georgia Southern after dropping a pair of league outings at home last week. The Jaguars fell by 13 to both Little Rock and Arkansas State in those two contests.
USA scored 25 points and shot 66.7 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Jaguars fell 66-53 to the Red Wolves at the Mitchell Center.
Marquita Daniels led the club with 17 points off the bench to go along with three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Of her 17 points, 14 came in the second half, including nine in during the final 10 minutes of the contest. Daniels was 6-of-10 from the floor in the second half and hit four of her seven shots in the final period.
Daniels leads the club offensively and is the lone player averaging double figures for the Jags with 10.8 points per game. The 5-7 sophomore guard is also tied with Genesis Perrymond for the team lead with 18 steals. In her eight games this season, Daniels is averaging 2.25 steals per game.
Fellow sophomore Chyna Ellis is also coming off a solid performance in her last outing as she nearly had South Alabama's first triple-double in 26 seasons, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high seven rebounds.
The seven blocks by Ellis were one block shy of tying a Mitchell Center record as Genevieve Delk had eight on Feb. 3, 2005 against Arkansas State.
With her seven blocks, Ellis also moved into seventh place on South Alabama's career blocks chart as she now has 83 during her time in a Jaguar uniform. Ellis passed former Jag Carla Mathis, who lettered at USA from 1984-87 and recorded 82 blocks during that time.
Entering play this week, Ellis ranks first in the Sun Belt and 33rd in the NCAA in blocks with 2.45 per game. She has 27 on the season.
Against Arkansas State, South Alabama also tied a season-best with 10 blocks. The Jaguars currently lead the Sun Belt and rank 11th in the NCAA in blocks, averaging 5.9 per game.
USA is also 40th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.352) and 44th in scoring defense (55.8). South Alabama is first in the league field-goal percentage defense and third in scoring defense.
Like the Jags, Georgia Southern (3-8, 02 SBC) also opened up league play with a pair of losses, falling on the road to Texas State (61-56) and at UT Arlington (70-31).
The loss to the Mavericks extended the Eagles' current skid to five games. The Eagles made just nine of their 41 shots from the field, including 3-for-11 from three-point range. GSU also turned the ball over a season-high 22 times, which led to 23 points by UTA.
In all three of its wins, GSU has scored 60 or more points. Those are the only times that the club has eclipsed the 60-point mark this season.
Georgia Southern continues to be led offensively by the junior duo of Angel McGowan and Patrice Butler. McGowan, a 5-9 guard, leads the club with 13.5 points per outing, while Butler comes into Thursday night's contest averaging 12.3 ppg. They rank eighth and 12th, respectively, in the SBC in those categories.
McGowan is shooting 43 percent from the floor this season – 14th-best in the conference – and leads the Eagles with 18 steals. She is also second on the club with 21 assists.
Butler also leads Georgia Southern on the glass with 5.3 boards per game. The 6-2 forward/center is also shooting over 40 percent from the floor, knocking down 41.6 percent of her attempts. She also has range from outside the arc, connecting on 10 of her 23 long-range attempts for 43.5 percent.
Both players have also been solid from the charity stripe as McGowan is shooting 76.7 percent from the line and Butler is shooting 75 percent. As a team, Georgia Southern leads the SBC at the foul line, connecting on 72.6 percent of its attempts.
The Eagles are averaging 51.2 ppg, while allowing their opponents 63.4 ppg. In all three of its wins this season, GSU has scored 60 or more points. Those are the only times that the club has eclipsed the 60-point mark this season.
The two clubs split last seasons' meetings with each winning on the others home court. The Eagles defeated USA 67-53 in Mobile in the first meeting, while the Jaguars picked up an 80-63 win in Statesboro in the second meeting.
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—
