MOBILE, Ala. –The University of South Alabama women's basketball team heads to the Peach State to face Georgia Southern in its Sun Belt Conference road-opener on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. CT.
 
The game will be televised on ESPN3, and fans can watch the game on ESPN.com/WatchESPN , listen at http://995thejag.com/listen, or get updates on Twitter (@SouthALWBB) or live stats via USAJaguars.com.
 
The meeting between South Alabama and Georgia Southern will mark the 12th in the all-time series between the two clubs.  Georgia Southern holds a 6-5 record in the series.  The two schools have split the season series twice since the Eagles entered the Sun Belt Conference in the 2014-15 season.  The Jaguars won the last meeting 48-45 at home on Feb. 13th.  Fourth-year South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler is 2-2 against Troy, and second-year Georgia Southern head coach Kip Drown is 1-1 against South Alabama.  The Eagles will come to the Mitchell Center later this month on Saturday, Jan. 28th.
 
"We always say that if you can split on the road, it's a successful road trip," said Fowler.  "It's a great time to get a road trip in with school not in session until next week.  We can get our young ladies to bond with each other.  At the same time it's a business trip for us, and it's an exciting time to be on the road. There's not many better things for a team than road wins."
 
The Jaguars returned from a nine-day holiday break and dropped their Sun Belt action against Troy, 73-57, on New Year's Eve in their last game.  A 24-3 Trojans' run in the fourth quarter secured the victory after the Jaguars led for most of the second half. Entering the second half leading 30-27, South Alabama quickly stretched its lead to eight points on a 7-2 run.  Troy then responded with its own 7-2 run.  The two teams traded baskets before ending the third quarter tied up at 45-45.  South Alabama regained the lead at 50-49 with over seven minutes remaining before the Trojans then began their 24-3 run with 6:43 remaining in regulation.  South Alabama went just 1-8 from the field during Troy's run with eight turnovers.
 
"I thought we competed and played hard against Troy," said Fowler.  "It's just the final 15 minutes where the game got away from us.  Fatigue played a factor into turnovers that led to easy buckets for Troy from its press.  We have to be able to combat those things."
 
Troy went 10-17 (58.8%) from the field and 4-7 (57.1%) from three in the fourth quarter, while South Alabama missed all five three-point attempts and went 5-15 (33.3%) from the field.  Troy had the edge in rebounding (58-50), including 24 offensive boards.  The Trojans forced three more turnovers (25-22), and capitalized with 32 points off turnovers.
 
Genesis Perrymond scored a game-high and career-high 21 points on 8-12 (66.7%) shooting, including 4-6 from deep, and also had three rebounds and a steal and block.  Chyna Ellis had 14 points and nine rebounds and tied a season-high with five blocks.
 
"Early on our execution and intensity was really there," said Fowler.  "Against Troy's press we were getting three-on-two and two-one-one situations.  I thought we really came together then and played with a lot of passion and pride.  We have to continue that for 40 minutes."
 
Georgia Southern (4-8, 0-1) dropped their Sun Belt opener to Georgia State 58-54 at home last Saturday and has won one of the past four and two of the past 10 games.  Three of the four Eagles' wins have come at home, and they have a 3-3 record at Hanner Fieldhouse.  Georgia Southern was predicted to finish 10th in the Sun Belt Conference coaches' poll with 39 points.
 
"Georgia Southern has great size in the post," said Fowler.  "Patrice Butler can inside and outside the paint and likes to shoot the three.   Angel McGowan had an outstanding game against us last year.  The team runs a lot of motion and gets a lot of movement on offense.  They've given us problems in past with their 2-3 zone defense.  We have to make shots, give them different looks and can't be stagnant."
 
The Eagles are the bottom third of the nation and conference in scoring offense (60.0 points per game) and field-goal percentage (36.3%), but opposing teams are only averaging 1.2 more ppg and shooting 37.2%.  The Eagles rank first in the conference the least amount of personal fouls per game (13.9) and 13th in the nation, and opponents have averaged just 10.4 free throw attempts per game.  Opponents have shot 37.2% from the field, which 94th in the nation and second best in the conference, and scored 61.2 points per game (3rd lowest in the Sun Belt).  The Eagles have made 7.2 three-pointers per game, second highest in the conference, at a 30.4% clip, but opponents have been more efficient from deep with 7.8 threes per game and made 31.9% of their threes.
 
Senior forward/center Patrice Butler leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg), blocks (nine), free throw percentage (83.3%) and three-pointers (19).  Senior guard/forward Angel McGowan is the only other double-digit scorer (13.6) for the Eagles, averages 1.0 steals per game and 1.5 assists per game and has made one less three than Butler.  The younger sister of Patrice, junior forward/center Sierra Butler leads the squad in rebounding (6.8 rebounds per game) and has shot 40.3% from the field.
 
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).