LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The University of South Alabama's women's basketball team (7-11, 2-5) fell at Little Rock (13-6, 7-0) 71-54 on Saturday afternoon at Jack Stephens Center.  The Trojans ended the third quarter on a 10-2 run for a 16-point lead, and the deficit was insurmountable for the Jaguars as they were never able to even to cut it down to single digits the rest of the game.
 
"I thought we competed in the game", said South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler.  "In order to win you have to compete first. So I thought we made some strides.  We carried over from the last 15 minutes of the Arkansas State game to about the first 25 minutes of this game. We have to get that type of play for all 40 minutes of a game."
 
The two teams played even for the first seven minutes of the third quarter as both scored 17 points apiece.  The Jaguars' offense produced four layups in their first five possessions as Colby Davis made one to start the second half, Chyna Ellis got one and Kennedi Centers had two back-to-back.  Ellis then hit the only three-pointer for South Alabama in the game that made it 40-34 four minutes into the quarter.
 
Little Rock's Kaitlyn Pratt carried the Trojans in the third quarter as she had 13 points on the quarter by going 6-9 from the field and adding a free throw.  Pratt's layup and free throw with 2:58 left in the quarter gave the Trojans an 11-point lead and started the 10-2 run to end the quarter.  Little Rock made three-straight field goals, including a three, and three-straight free throws during the run for a 58-42 lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
After Ellis made a layup and LaNeetra Guillory got a three-point play after getting fouled on a layup to start the fourth quarter, Little Rock went on a 9-0 run to make it 67-47 for its biggest lead of the game.
 
"Little Rock ended the first half on a good run, and then they were able to get some quick baskets at the end of the third quarter," said Fowler.  "We didn't get shots to fall.  Little Rock's Sharde Collins just played unbelievable with 29 points in the game.  She's the leading scorer and we knew coming into the game she was capable of scoring in bunches with her talent."
 
The two teams went back-and-forth in the first quarter with two lead changes and four times the score being tied.  Ellis got a layup for the Jags' first points of the game.  Davis then made four-straight free throws, and Ellis hit a jumper in the lane for an 8-4 Jags' lead.  The Trojans got the lead with a 6-0 run, and Candice Williams tied it up at 10-10 with a jumper.
 
The even level of play continued for the first five minutes of action in the second quarter.  Little Rock started to distance itself with a 7-2 run for a 25-20 lead with 2:23 remaining in the first half.  After Davis made a layup with two minutes left, the Trojans ended the half with a 6-1 run for a 31-23 lead entering halftime.
 
"We have to believe in ourselves and keep up the confidence that we can compete with any team in the Sun Belt Conference," said Fowler.  "You can't say for certain where that breakthrough will come in the season, and we have to stay in the present.  We have to worry about every rep, possession, whether it's in practice in games.  If we continue to put in the hard work at practice it will carry over into games."
 
South Alabama went 22-51 (43.1%) from the field, 1-4 (25%) from three and 9-13 (69.2%) at the free throw line.  Little Rock had the edge in rebounding (39-24), including 11 on the offensive glass that resulted in an 8-2 advantage in second chance points.
 
South Alabama had three players score in double-digits: Ellis (15 points), Guillory (11) and Davis (10).  Ellis went 7-15 from the field, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and had the Jags' only three blocks in the game.  Davis got six of her points from the charity stripe, dished out a team-high and season-high seven assists and also had two rebounds and a team-high three steals.  Guillory went 4-8 from the field, knocked down all three free throw attempts and pulled down three rebounds.
 
Freshman Kennedi Centers got her first collegiate career start and had eight points on 4-6 shooting and a block and a steal.
 
South Alabama will host the two schools from the Peach State next week, starting with Georgia State on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. in the annual Pack the House Game.  Earlier this month the Jags swept the Panthers 77-47 and Eagles 55-46 on the road for the first time since the two schools joined the Sun Belt Conference four years ago.
 
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your our ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.
 
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).