Game 26: vs. UL Monroe Game Notes (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – After securing the program's first Sun Belt Championships berth over the weekend, the University of South Alabama women's basketball team will look to position its self in next month's league tournament as the Jags return home for their final two home games of the regular season, beginning with UL Monroe on Thursday night.  Tip-off versus the Warhawks is set for 5 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.

Live stats and web streaming for the contest versus the Warhawks can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.  Fans can also keep up with in-game updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.  

South Alabama (13-12, 9-7 SBC) comes into Thursday  night's game against UL Monroe after picking up a 68-54 win at Appalachian State last Thursday night.  The win versus the Mountaineers as USA's fourth-straight win and the program's seventh in its last nine outings.

The Jaguars currently sit in fourth place in the Sun Belt standings and over the weekend, South Alabama secured a berth in next month's league tournament by virtue of losses by App State, Georgia State and Georgia Southern on Saturday.

"Earning a berth in this year's conference tournament was one of our team's goals coming into the season," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "To be able to have already accomplished that goal with two weeks to go in the regular season is a great accomplishment for our young ladies.  I'm really excited for them because they've earned it.  It's a great building block for our program."

In their last outing, USA broke a 10-10 tie in the first quarter as the Jaguars closed the period on a 10-1 run over the final two minutes.  The run was capped off and highlighted by a three-quarters shot by Marquita Daniels at the buzzer.  

Daniels led the club with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting and was 5-for-6 from beyond the three-point line.  The five three-pointers were a new career-best for Daniels.  The Atlanta, Ga., native leads the club offensively, averaging 11.0 ppg.

As a team, South Alabama was on fire from long range as it knocked down nine of its 14 attempts from beyond the arc.  The nine three-pointers were the third-most for the club in a game this season.  The 64.3 percentage from the three-point line was the second-highest percentage in a game in program history.

Redshirt freshman Erin Autio led the club in scoring averaging 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game off the bench in her two outings.  The 6-0 forward was 11-for-15 from the field for 73.3 percent and hit five of her seven attempts from beyond the three-point line.  She also had a pair of blocks and steals.

South Alabama currently leads the Sun Belt and is tied with Texas for 12th in the NCAA in blocks, averaging 5.8 per game.  USA has 145 blocks on the season, which ranks as 18th-most in the NCAA.

Chyna Ellis is first in the Sun Belt and ranks 26th in the NCAA in blocks – sixth-most among sophomores nationally – with 2.64 per game.  Her 66 blocks this season have already surpassed her tally (56) her freshman single-season blocks record.  With her block at Appalachian State (2/18), Ellis moved past former Jag Genevieve Delk (65 – 2003-04) for second on South Alabama's single-season blocks chart.  

The 6-2 sophomore center has recorded five or more blocks five times this season and in her 15 conference games, she is averaging 3.2 bpg.  She has had two or more blocks in 20 of her 25 games.

The Jaguars are also 17th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (.351), 44th in three-point field-goal defense (.278) and 49th in scoring defense (57.72).  USA leads the league in field-goal defense, three-point field-goal defense and on the defensive glass (27.2).

UL Monroe (9-16, 3-13 SBC) enters play this week riding a six-game losing streak and has lost eight of its last nine since falling at home to the Jaguars (63-57) in Monroe back on Jan. 23.  Last week, the Warhawks dropped a pair of games on the road, falling at Texas State (63-57) at Texas State on Thursday night and then 40-32 at UT Arlington on Saturday.

Despite their record, Fowler has been impressed with what he has seen on film from the Warhawks and feels this match up will be a tough test for the Jaguars.

"The thing that keeps standing out to me when I watch UL Monroe on film is how hard they play," Fowler said.  "They fight and they are a gritty team.  They really get after you and they have really good players on top of that.  Alayshia Hunter, who had a good game against us at their place, is an all-conference player.  She's a load on the inside. When you match that up with (Chelsea) Tieuel on the outside, ULM just has a great combination of two all-conference types of players.

"We are going to have to keep the ball out of the paint and make Hunter earn everything that she gets.  At the same time, we are going to have to be able to defend the three-point line against them as well.  We need to move the ball and control the paint at the offensive end of the floor and just play with the energy and pace that we've been playing with lately."

In the loss to the Mavericks in its last outing, ULM led by two at the break, but was held to nine points and shot just 11.1 percent (3-of-27) over the final two quarters.  The Warhawks' leading scorer Alayshia Hunter was held to just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting.  It was just the fourth time this season that the senior forward hasn't recorded double figures this season.  Hunter did record a career-best five steals in the loss.
 
Hunter leads the club in scoring and its tied with UL Lafayette's Keke Veal for fourth in the Sun Belt in that category, averaging 15.9 points per game.  Hunter also ranks sixth in the SBC in field-goal percentage (.514), eighth in rebounding (7.0), seventh in defensive rebounds (4.7), ninth in offensive rebounds (2.3) and 12th in free-throw shooting (.709).

Also averaging double digits for ULM is sophomore guard Chelsea Tieuel with 11.0 ppg.  Tieuel is seventh in the conference at the foul line, converting 73 percent of her attempts.  She also ranks as one of the top three-point shooters in the Sun Belt averaging 2.0 treys per game (tied for third) and knocking down 34.5 percent of her attempts (11th).

Fellow sophomore Daja  Chase sits just outside of double figures with 8.0 ppg.  The 5-10 forward though is third in the Sun Belt on the glass, pulling down 8.5 boards per outing.  Chase also ranks second in the league in both offensive rebounds (3.0) and defensive rebounds (5.5).  She has pulled down eight or more rebounds in 15 of her 24 games this season, including eight games in double-figures.

Stephanie Ratliff came off the bench against UT Arlington to record a career-best seven blocked shots, two off the school record and the most by a Warhawk since Nedra Winston during the '06-07 season.  Ratliff is tied with Hunter and two other players for fourth in the league in blocks with 1.3 per game.  As a team, ULM is third in the SBC in that category with 4.0 bpg.

ULM ranks third in the conference in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 38.3 percent shooting and third in blocks with 4.0 per game.  Opponents though have shot well from beyond the arc, knocking down 32.6 percenr of their attempts, which is 10th-highest allowed in the SBC.

UL Monroe's field-goal percentage (.372) is 10th in the league.  In Sun Belt play, the Warhawks are averaging just 51.5 ppg and shooting 34.6 percent from the field, both of which rank 11th in the league.

In the first meeting between the two clubs this season, USA snapped a three-game win streak in the series by the Warhawks with a 63-57 victory in Monroe, La., last month.  In that meeting, South Alabama fought its way back from an eight-point second-half deficit to pick up the win with the big shot coming from Colby Davis drained a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, giving South Alabama a 61-57 lead with 30 seconds remaining.

Daniels led the Jaguars with 15 points and a pair of steals, while Autio came off the bench to record her fourth double figure outing of the season as she finished with 13 points.  ULM's Hunter led all scorers with 22 as she was 9-for-21 from the field with nine rebounds.

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—