MOBILE, Ala. –The University of South Alabama women's basketball ends its trip in the Peach State with a matchup against Georgia State on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. CT.  The Jaguars won 55-46 against Georgia Southern on Thursday night in their Sun Belt road-opener.
 
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 State will mark the 10th in the all-time series between the two clubs.  Georgia State holds a 5-4 record in the series.  The two schools split the season series in the first year (2013-14) they played each other as Sun Belt opponents.  The Jaguars swept the series last season, and the Panthers swept the series the previous year.  South Alabama won at Georgia State last year on Jan. 9th 60-52 and then 83-45 in Mobile on Feb. 11th in the most lopsided game in the nine meetings between them. 
 
Fourth-year South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler and seventh-year Georgia State head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener are both 3-3 against each other's schools.  The Panthers will come to the Mitchell Center later this month on Thursday, Jan. 26th.
 
South Alabama won its Sun Belt Conference road-opener 55-47 to Georgia (4-9, 0-2) on Thursday night.  Trailing by one point with 3:12 left in the game, the Jaguars went on a 9-1 run to secure the victory. In a back and forth game the Jags entered the fourth quarter leading 38-34, and Erin Autio and Colby Davis stretched the lead to eight points on two jumpers in the first two possessions of the quarter.  The Eagles responded with a 9-0 run that was over five minutes long to reclaim the lead.  Autio hit a jump shot to start the late Jags' run and give them the lead for good.  Autio then made a layup on the next possession off an offensive rebound.  Chyna Ellis made a layup after gathering up her own missed shot with 1:24 remaining.  Camryn London converted a three-point play on with 47 seconds left.  Autio and London both hit a pair of free throws to ice the game.
 
London had her first ever double-digit scoring game with a game-high 17 points on 6-14 shooting that included two three-pointers.  Ellis recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds and also had a team-high three blocks.  Autio also had 11 points and needed just more rebound for her own double-double.
 
The Jags took advantage of the Eagles' zone defense and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds for nine more second chance points (16-7).
 
Georgia State (5-8, 1-1) dropped their Sun Belt home-opener to Troy 87-69 on Thursday and opened up league play with a 58-54 win at rival Georgia Southern last Saturday.  The Panthers have lost five of their past six games.
- Georgia State is 2-4 at home this year and has dropped its last three games at GSU Sports Arena.  Georgia State was picked to finish ninth in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll after a 10th-place finish last season.
 
Averaging 62.4 points per game, the Panthers rank in the bottom third of the nation in scoring defense (68.5 ppg), assists per game (12.1 assists per game), assist turnover ratio (0.7) and field-goal percentage (36.4%).   The Panthers average 16.6 offensive boards a game which is 15th most in Division-I.
Senior forward Tiffany Holston has recorded her four double-doubles this year, is the only Panther averaging double-digits points per game (10.2) and also leads the team in rebounding (9.1 rebounds per game which ranks 60th most in the nation), field-goal percentage (48.2%) and free throw attempts (41).  Freshman guard Jada Lewis is second on the team in scoring (9.5 ppg) and assists (1.8 apg), leads the team in steals (1.8 steals per game) and free-throw percentage (78.6%), and against Troy had a game-high 21 points on 7-13 field goals, 3-4 from three and 4-5 at the line with five rebounds and a team-high four steals.  Junior guard Makeba Ponder is one of the top scorers off the bench for the Panthers (7.7 ppg), making a team-high 23 three-pointers with 79 of her 107 field goal attempts coming from behind the three-point line.
 
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).