MOBILE, Ala. –The University of South Alabama women's basketball team will play the third of a four-game homestand against William Carey on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
 
Fans can watch the game on JagNationTV.com, listen at http://995thejag.com/listen, or get updates on Twitter (@SouthALWBB) or live stats via USAJaguars.com.
 
Fans attending the game can get your picture taken with Santa PAWS.  Santa PAWS will be located at the Waterman's Globe before and during the game.
 
The meeting between South Alabama and William Carey will mark the fourth in the all-time series between the two clubs.  South Alabama holds a 2-1 record in the series and has won the last two meetings with both coming at home.  The Jaguars defeated the Lady Crusaders 66-30 last season on Dec. 15.  The previous meeting between the two teams came back on Jan. 26, 1980 with USA winning that meeting 91-76.  William Carey won the first meeting in the series, defeating the Jags 78-68 at home on Nov. 13, 1979.
 
South Alabama defeated Southern 55-48 on Monday night.  After trailing by seven points midway through the third quarter, South Alabama outscored Southern 32-15 in the last 15 minutes of the game.  South Alabama ended the third quarter on an 11-2 run.  Chyna Ellis made two-straight layups to give South Alabama its biggest lead of the game, 49-40 with a little over three minutes left in the game.  After Southern went on a quick 6-0 with 2:47 remaining, South Alabama's defense stopped Southern from scoring until allowing a layup with just one second left in the game.  Genesis Perrymond and Colby Davis both hit a pair of free throws in the last 24 seconds of the game to secure the victory. 
 
"We didn't turn the ball over in the second half," said head coach Terry Fowler.  "I thought that was crucial and gave us extra possessions.  We were able to shoot the ball efficiently as well.  We were also able to execute better. We got the ball inside, which we were trying to do.  I thought we moved the ball a lot better. There were possessions where four or five players touched the ball, and we took great shots instead of good shoots."
 
South Alabama had three double-digit scorers:  Ellis (13 points), Perrymond (13) and Savannah Jones (12).  Ellis had a game-high three blocks and tied for a game-high nine rebounds.  Perrymond dished out a game-high four assists and also had three steals and three rebounds.  Jones was the only South Alabama scorer to shoot above 50% with more than one field goal attempt, going 5-9 (55.6%) from the field and 2-5 (40%) from three in addition to four rebounds and a steal.
 
Jones has been the top three-point shooter for South Alabama to start the season.  Coming off the bench Jones has gone 12-29 (41.4%) from behind the three-point line.  After the Jaguars' game against Southern she ranks seventh in the Sun Belt in three-point field-goal percentage and is tied for eighth in three-pointers made while just averaging 16.1 minutes per game.  Jones has been hot from three in the last four games against North Florida, Jacksonville, Southern Miss and Southern.  She went a combined 10-19 (52.6%) from three and made at least two three's in all four games.
 
"Savannah is just getting on the court and becoming more comfortable in her role," said Fowler.  "The thing that was holding her back earlier was her not understanding the defensive philosophy.  She's starting to grasp that now.  The coaching staff has to figure out more ways to get her shooting opportunities."
 
Perrymond's offensive output the past two games have been the best of the year so far.  After averaging just 3.2 points per game, 2 assists per game and 3.3 turnovers per game and shooting just 24.0% (6-25) from the field and 21.4% (3-14) from three in the first six games of the season, she saw vast improvements in every category the past two games. In the two home games against Southern Mississippi and Southern she averaged 10.5 ppg, 4.0 apg and 1.5 tpg and made more field goals (7-17 for 41.2%) and three-pointers (4-9 for 44.4%) in the two home games than she did in the previous six games.
 
"The team needs the player Genesis was prior to her injury last year," said Fowler.  "That's just being a steady player who we can depend on.  She has been able to do things, but the shots weren't just falling for her earlier in the season.  Now they're starting to fall for her now."
 
William Carey (3-5) dropped its last two games, losing at Spring Hill on Monday 46-56 and to Dillard (La.) at home 64-56 last Saturday.  The Lady Crusaders have won one of three games on the road this season, defeating Selma 57-47 on Nov. 29 and dropping their other game to Dillard 63-59 on Nov. 10.  The team is averaging 60.9 points per game while allowing 61.8.  William Carey averages 22.1 three-point attempts per game and has gone 28.8% from behind the three-point line.
 
"William Carey has the ability to put the ball in the basket at high rate," said Fowler.  "From my days coaching at Spring Hill I'm familiar with the coaching staff and some of the things run.  They're smaller than us, but they play hard and get after you.  They play in a lot of multiple defenses. You'll see them with a 1-3-1, 3-2 and 2-3 zones and also man defense.  So they're going to give us a variety of looks.  They have a bunch of kids that can shoot the basketball, so we can't give them open looks.
 
 Junior forward Shania Posey leads the team in scoring (12.1 ppg), rebounding (6.1 rpg), blocks (five), free throw shooting (100.00% on 14-14) and assist to turnover ratio (1.0).  Junior guard Teshia Jones averages 11.8 ppg and 8.9 three-point attempts per game while 29.6% of those attempts and leads the team in steals (2.9 per game).  Senior guard Cortney Epting is the other double-digit scorer for William Carey, averaging 10.1 ppg, leads the team in three-point shooting (35.3% on 18-51) and also averages 5.3 rpg, 2.9 apg and 1.5 spg.
 
Last year William Carey finished 8-17, 5-13 to finish 10th in the Southern States Athletic Conference.   The Lady Crusaders return just one starter and four other letterwinners from last year's squad.
 
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).