Box Score - South Alabama 70, Texas State 56 (.pdf)

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team placed four players in double figures Saturday afternoon as the Jags picked up a 70-56 Sun Belt Conference road victory over Texas State at Strahan Coliseum.

"I thought we just did a great job of sharing the ball," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said after his team recorded 17 assists.  "It started from the very beginning of the game and just carried over from there.  I couldn't be more proud of our effort today and just the team camaraderie that we had out there.  It was really fun to watch them play, especially at the defensive end of the floor."

The Jaguars (15-14, 11-9 SBC) will now prepare for their opening round game of the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championships.  South Alabama will open up against in-state rival Troy as either the fourth or the fifth seed.  USA's seed will be determined by the outcome of the Trojans' game against UT Arlington later tonight.  The Jags will earn the fourth seed with a Troy loss and be the fifth seed should the Trojans defeat the Mavericks.  

USA will open play at the conference tournament on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Lakefront Arena.  Live stats and web streaming for the contest 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.  

The Jags swept the season-series versus Troy, defeating the Trojans 75-71 in Troy on Jan. 26, and then rallying back to win 65-63 three weeks ago in Mobile.  The Jaguars scored eight unanswered points and forced the Trojans into a pair of turnovers during the final minute, 32 seconds of the contest.  Colby Davis' jumper with 1.6 seconds remaining was the game winner.

"Going into the tournament, it's about taking the same kind of focus we had today and carry the momentum that we got from this win today," Fowler said.  "It's tough to beat an opponent three times in a season, especially an in-state rival.  We'll just have to get our players ready and follow the game plan."

South Alabama will enter the conference tournament as one of the hotter teams in the league, winners six of its last eight.  

Davis led the way offensively for South Alabama in the win as the junior guard recorded 15 points and dished out six assists.  Davis was 4-of-7 from the field with a pair of three-pointers and hit five of her eight free-throw attempts.  The double-figure outing was her fourth in her last five outings and eighth in her last 12.

Chyna Ellis posted her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds, hitting five of her nine shot attempts.  Erin Autio came off the bench to record 12 points, while Marquita Daniels added 11.

As a team, South Alabama shot 53.3 percent (24-of-45) from the floor and knocked down 44.4 percent of its free throw attempts.  USA was also 14-for-19 at the charity stripe for 73.7 percent.  

The loss for Texas State (12-18, 7-13 SBC) was its sixth-straight and 10th in its last 12 contests.  Playing their final home game, senior guards Ayriel Anderson and Raven Burns did their part for the Bobcats, combining for 36 of the team's 56 points.  Anderson led the club with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Burns had 17.

The Bobcats shot just 32.1 percent in the game (18-of-56) and was outrebounded 40-24.  USA scored 30 points in the paint, compared to Texas State's 14.  The Bobcats did force 26 South Alabama turnovers, leading to 21 points.

South Alabama scored the first six points of the game and held Texas State scoreless the first five-plus minutes to take the early lead.  Colby Davis had four of the Jaguars' first six points.

Raven Burns ended the scoring drought for the Bobcats with a three-pointer and TSU later pulled within three at 9-6.  

With three minutes to go, Autio provided a spark to the Jaguar offense as she scored the first five points of a 7-0 run to extend the South Alabama lead out to double figures.  Autio began the scoring with a pair of free throws and then drained a trey from the top of the key.  Daniels later capped off the run with a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup to put USA up 16-6 with one minute, 24 seconds showing on the clock.

Anderson would hit a three-pointer for the Bobcats in the closing seconds of the first to trim the deficit to seven.

USA shot got off to a strong start shooting the ball during the first 10 minutes, knocking down 44.5 percent, while holding Texas State to 3-of-13 shooting in the period for 23.1 percent.

In the second, South Alabama would again extend its lead out to nine (23-14) four-and-a-half minutes into the quarter.  Davis knocked down a trey from the top of the key and then Ellis and Taylor Jenkins worked a little high-low action as Ellis delivered a pass to Jenkins for a layup.

Anderson and Toshua Leavitt quickly cut the South Alabama advantage to 23-20 as the duo drained three-pointers for the Bobcats with just over three minutes to go on the clock.  However, Genesis Perrymond came up big for the Jaguars as the redshirt freshman answered at the other end of the floor with a trey of her own, this one coming from the right corner.

With under a minute to go before the half, Ellis scored four-straight points for USA to extend the lead back out to double figures at 31-20.  Texas State's De'Joinae Calloway scored for the Bobcats in the closing seconds thought to cut the deficit to nine.

The Jaguars shot the ball extremely well during the first 20 minutes of action, knocking down 11 of their 22 shot attempts.  However, USA committed 17 turnovers during the first two quarters of play, leading to 10 Bobcat points.  South Alabama also controlled the glass in the first half, outrebounding TSU 22-10.  
South Alabama would see its lead grow to as much as 18 in the third quarter, following a 7-0 run midway through the period.  Autio ignited the scoring with one of her three treys on the afternoon.  Davis and LaNeetra Guillory then followed with layups to extend USA's advantage out to 48-30 at the 4:10 mark.  The run was part of a stretch in which the Jags hit seven-straight shots.  For the quarter, South Alabama was 8-of-11 from the field for 72.7 percent.

The Bobcats answered back and cut the South Alabama lead to single digits with 43 seconds remaining in the period as Anderson hit one of two at the line.  Anderson's free throw capped off a 10-2 Bobcat run over a three-minute stretch.

The Jaguars entered the fourth and final quarter leading by double figures and pushed its lead out to as much as 14 (60-46) with less than seven to go after another three from Autio.

Over the next several minutes though, Texas State would continue to battle, getting as close as 62-53 after a jumper from Kaitlin Walla at the 2:45 mark, but that was as close as the Jaguars would let the Bobcats get.  

Over the next two minutes, USA would regain momentum and stretch its lead back out to 16 (70-54) before taking the 14-point win.

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—