MOBILE, Ala. – After winning its first game of the 2016-17 season on Thursday night against Spring Hill, the University of South Alabama women's basketball team will go back on the road to play New Orleans on Saturday.
 
Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Fans can watch the game on UNOPrivateers.com or get updates on Twitter (@SouthALWBB) or live stats via USAJaguars.com.
 
The Jaguars responded after losing their first two games of the season on the road to No. 20/24 Florida (85-33) and UCF (70-58) with winning their home-opener against Spring Hill on Thursday 38-33.  The Jaguars improved to 34-9 and 14-4 in the Mitchell Center in home-openers.
 
South Alabama scored the first basket of the game and were able to maintain their lead the rest of the way.  With the Jaguars leading 34-29 more than two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Badgers cut the deficit to just three with a layup with over seven minutes left.  South Alabama's defense limited Spring Hill to just one basket the rest of the way to hold onto the victory.  The Jaguars finished the game shooting 28% while Spring Hill went 27% from the field.  South Alabama had the advantage in turnovers (17-12) with eight steals and on the glass (46-38) that included 16 offensive boards.
 
"Against Spring Hill defensively we played really well," said head coach Terry Fowler.  "Obviously offensively we didn't play close to our potential, but anytime you get a win is still a good thing.  Our job now is to go over and try to take care of business the next game."
 
Candice Williams had a game-high 12 points and three steals, grabbed five boards and made the only three pointer of the game for the Jaguars.  Erin Autio led the way on the boards with a game-high seven rebounds in addition to eight points, a steal and a block.  Autio and Williams made their first collegiate starts against the Badgers.
 
"Defensively we showed some strides," said Fowler. "I thought we did a good job of executing the game plan, knowing their personnel and recognizing offensive sets from our scouting. We've got to be able to score.  I think we counted up around 27 missed shots in the paint.  We were 1-16 from three. Obviously we feel that we can shoot the ball better than that."
 
The meeting between South Alabama and New Orleans will mark the 48th in the all-time series between the two programs with New Orleans holding a 29-18 record in the series.  South Alabama has won 11 of the last 12, winning five of the six games in New Orleans.  The Jags lost to the Privateers 68-47 in the last meeting on Feb. 3, 2010 at New Orleans.  New Orleans was formerly in the Sun Belt Conference up until the 2010-11 season.
 
New Orleans enters the game with a 1-2 record, defeating Blue Mountain College 75-37 in its last game at home on Tuesday.  The Privateers dropped their first two games of the season: 78-57 at Alabama in the season-opener and 78-53 at Southern Miss last Sunday.  New Orleans was picked to finish 11th of 13 teams in the preseason conference coaches' poll.  The Privateers finished last season 8-19 and 5-13 in the conference.
 
 Junior Rani Brown is the only Privateer averaging over nine ppg with 56 points in three games (18.7 ppg).  Brown was selected to the Southland Conference Preseason First Team and has shot 44.4% from the field (20-45), has made a team-high seven three pointers on 20 attempts and shares the team lead in assists (1.7 apg).  Sophomore Shania Woods has been the top rebounder on the team with seven offensive and 11 defensive boards.  The Privateers have forced 65 turnovers from their opponents, and sophomore Danielle Wright leads the way with eight of the team's 30 steals.
 
"New Orleans has a team that plays very hard," said Fowler.  "They play with a lot of enthusiasm and are loud.  They've got an outstanding player in Randi Brown who can score in a multitude of ways.  They really go to the offensive glass.  On the other side of the floor they get after it with a half-court defense. So we certainly expect to have a tough game on the road. For me they are always a measure for how well your team is if it can go get road wins."
 
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).