MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team (3-4) dropped the first of its four-game homestand to Southern Miss (7-1) 57-48 on Sunday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.  The Lady Eagles outscored the Jaguars 18-6 in the fourth quarter for the win.
 
South Alabama scored the first two baskets of the fourth quarter in the first 45 seconds for a 46-39 lead, but went 0-10 from the field the rest of the game in addition to five turnovers.  Colby Davis hit a layup to begin the quarter, and LaNeetra Guillory hit a jumper just past the free-throw line off a pass by Genesis Perrymond.
 
Southern Miss went on a 15-0 run that covered over just eight minutes of action.  Jayla King cut the Lady Eagle's deficit to three points after a layup and a pair of free throws.  After a Brittanny Dinkins' jumper, Keri Jewett-Giles gave Southern Miss the lead for the first time since the beginning of the second quarter on a fast break layup.  Jewett-Giles would add four more points on a jumper and layup that sandwiched a layup by King.  Megan Brown hit a free throw with 45 seconds left before South Alabama's Davis cut the deficit to six on two free throws.  Shonte Hailes added three throws in the next two possessions for Southern Miss to close out the game.
 
The Jaguars had staked a 12-point lead halfway through the third quarter after opening up the second half on a 10-3 run.  Genesis Perrymond hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the half, and then Davis converted on a three-point play after being fouled on a fast break layup on a dish by Chyna Ellis.  After the Lady Eagles' Brittny Norris hit a three-pointer, Davis hit back-to-back layups for the Jag's biggest lead of the game.
 
The Lady Eagles closed out the third quarter on an 11-2 run.  Hailes made a fastbreak layup with 4:36 left in the quarter, and King then made two-straight layups.  After the Jaguars responded with a layup by Ellis, Respect Leaphart hit a shot in the paint before Dinkins hit a three-pointer with 45 seconds left in the quarter.
 
"We had a 12-point lead and we went through a cold stretch," said head coach Terry Fowler. "We couldn't make shots and Southern Miss got back in a run. We really just stopped doing what we were doing to get us that lead. We were getting the ball inside and handling their press. Then for whatever reason, I don't know if fatigue played a part, we just stopped executing on offensive side of the floor and gave them opportunities."
 
Both teams got off to hot starts on the offensive end to start the game. South Alabama made its first three shots, and Southern Miss hit four of its first five shots to grab a 10-7 lead.  The Jags turned the ball over twice to start the game, but Perrymond got them on the board with a fastbreak layup off a pass by Candice Williams.  Ellis scored the next five points for the Jags off a jumper and a three-point play on a made layup.
 
The rest of the first quarter went back-and-forth as the lead changed twice with two ties.
 
The Jags took the lead just 11 seconds into the second quarter when Ellis made a pair of free throws to make the score 17-16.  Ellis then made another layup, and Davis split a pair of free throws with 6:19 remaining in the second quarter.
 
Dinkins tied the game up at 25-25 with 2:38 left in the first half, and South Alabama closed out the half with the last five points to go to halftime with a 30-25 lead.  Genesis Perrymond hit a three-pointer on a pass by Colby Davis, and Chyna Ellis made a layup with 47 seconds left on a pick and roll with Williams.
 
Southern Miss had the advantage on the glass, outrebounding South Alabama 39-28.  The Lady Eagles used 15 offensive rebounds to score 14 second chance points while South Alabama did not have any second chance points.  The Lady Eagles also turned the ball over five times less (22-17).
 
South Alabama finished the game shooting 35.3% (18-51) from the field and 26.3% (5-19) from behind the three-point line. Southern Miss went 23-56 (41.1%) from the field and 4-10 (40.0%) from three.
 
"The one thing we really talked about as a team is we have to figure out how to put 40 minutes together," said Fowler. "I think the final 15 minutes we just couldn't get the ball in the basket. Defensively, I'm happy with our effort but we have got to be able to score the ball and be able to make some of those easy shots, the shots around the basket. We have to get those to fall. I think then you'll see our kids' confidence grow and continue to move on and improve from that."
 
Ellis led the Jags in scoring with 13 points on 5-12 field goals and 3-3 from the free-throw line and also had a game-high and season-high five blocks along with six rebounds and two assists.  Davis was the only other double-digit scorer with 12 points in addition to two assists.
 
Perrymond was the leading rebounder with seven boards and had eight points with two three-pointers, four assists, one steal and no turnovers.  Williams had game-highs of five assists and three steals.  Off the bench Savannah Jones had nine points after going 3-5 from three, two rebounds and a steal, and Guillory had six points and five rebounds and tied a career-high with three blocks.
 
South Alabama is off the entire next week and will face Southern on Monday, Dec. 12 at 7:00 p.m.
 
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).