MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will kick off its 2016-17 season with two games in Florida this weekend.  The season-opener will be against No. 20/24 Florida in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday at 4:00 p.m. C.T., and then USA will wrap up the weekend trip at UCF on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. C.T.
 
Live stats and audio for the contest can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.  Friday's game will be on the SEC Network +, which fans can access through Watch ESPN.  Sunday's game will be broadcasted by UCF and can be found on its streaming website UCFKnights.tv.  Fans can also keep up with in-match updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.
 
The Jaguars won their lone exhibition game against Auburn-Montgomery 71-44 last Thursday.  Four Jaguars scored at least 10 points, including a double-double by junior center Chyna Ellis (16 points and 11 rebounds).  Ellis had four offensive rebounds to go along with a pair of assists, steals and blocks.   Junior guard Marquita Daniels scored 11 of her 14 points in the second half and had a game-high four steals.  Junior forward LaNeetra Guillory blocked a game-high four shots and had 11 points while redshirt-sophomore Erin Autio had 10 points with two three-point field goals made.  AUM had the lead for the first eight minutes of the game and jumped out to a 7-2 advantage by making three of its first four shots, but South Alabama ended the first quarter on an 8-2 run and never relinquished its lead.
 
USA returns three starters and six other letterwinners from last season's squad, led by the junior duo of Daniels and Ellis.  Daniels was selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt First Team while Ellis was selected to the second team.
 
Daniels enters the 2016-17 campaign as the top returning scorer for the club.  The Atlanta, Ga. native averaged 11.3 ppg, while also leading the team in steals (2.3 spg) and three-pointers made (34).  She earned third team all-conference honors last season after ranking third in the league in steals per game and 17th scoring.  Her 61 steals were third-most by a sophomore in school history.
 
Ellis earned conference defensive player of the year honors, the first in program history, in addition to being named third team all-conference last season.  Her 82 blocks were four shy of tying the school record for most blocks in a single season, ranking first in the Sun Belt and 22nd nationally in blocks per game (2.73).
 
South Alabama will have to replace two starters from last year's squad, Taylor Jenkins and Juliann Miller.  Miller led last year's team in field goal percentage (47.6%), averaged 7.0 pppg and started all but one game while Jenkins started in 22 games and averaged 6.1 ppg and 4.4 rpg.
 
USA also welcomes four newcomers to the squad -- true freshmen Shaforia Kines, Camryn London, Kennedi Centers and Savannah Jones.  Redshirt sophomore Candace Wiliams is eligible to play this year after sitting out last season after transferring from James Madison.
 
No. 20/24 Florida is coming off a 22-9 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the SEC a year ago.  The Gators advanced to the NCAA Tournament as a fifth-seed, where they lost to 12th-seeded Albany 61-59 in the first round.  Head Coach Amanda Butler was named the 2016 WBCA Region 2 Co-Coach of the Year.  The team finished ranked in the top-10 in four national stats categories: No. 3 for turnovers forced, No. 4 for steals per game, No. 7 for steals and No. 10 for offensive rebounds per game.
 
Florida was tabbed fifth in the SEC Preseason Media Poll.  It returns the top three scorers from last year's SEC-leading scoring offense (77.4 ppg):  senior Ronni Williams (11.1 ppg), sophomore Eleanna Christinaki (10.4 ppg) and junior Haley Lorenzen (9.3 ppg).  Also back are four other lettermen and another starter, but five letterwinners are gone from the squad.
 
UCF is coming off a 7-23 overall record and a 4-14 mark in the American Athletic Conference a year ago.  The Knights finished their season tied for ninth in the American and ended their year in the first round of the conference tournament.
 
Head Coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was named to the position on April 1, 2016 after six seasons at Albany.  Abrahamson-Henderson led the Great Danes to a combined nine America East Conference Tournament and Regular Season Titles, and beat Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season 61-59 as a 12th seed.
 
UCF was tabbed eighth in the AAC Preseason Media Poll.   The Knights return all five starters and four other letterwinners from last season while losing just two letterwinners.  Senior guard Zykira Lewis was named to the preseason all-conference second team.  Lewis ranks second in school history for career three-pointers (191), fifth for career points (1,356), sixth for career field goals (497) and eighth for career steals (156).
 
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).