MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team took down the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes, 73-42, to start the 2017-18 season.
 
Senior Chyna Ellis recorded a double-double, the 17th of her career, with 12 points and 14 rebounds to go with three blocks and a helper. Ellis shot 5-of-11 from the field.
 
Redshirt freshman Savannah Jones shot 60 percent from the field (6-of-10), including 4-for-7 from behind the three-point arc and 2-of-2 from the charity strike for 18 points. Jones also recorded a pair of rebounds and a pair of assists while recording a steal.
 
Freshman Antoinette Lewis opened her career with a nine point, 5 rebound effort. The freshman recorded three blocks and two steals while going 4-of-9 from the field.

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama led 22-7 at the end of the first quarter, including going on a 19-3 run in the final eight minutes of the opening frame
- The Jaguar defense held the Hurricanes to 1-for-11 from the field during the run
- GSW came back in the second quarter outscoring South Alabama 19-9 in the quarter, shooting 46.7 percent from the field
- USA shot 23.5 percent in the second, after going 9-of-17 (52.9%) in the first
- The Jaguars held the Hurricanes without a field goal during the final 5:35 of the contest.
- USA outscored GSW 42-16 in the second half.

NOTES
- Ellis set a career-high for rebounds in a game with 14.
- Jones set a career-high with 18 points in the game.
- The Jags held the Hurricanes to shooting just 25.9 percent from the field, including under 25 percent in three of the four quarters
- The Jags dominated the paint outscoring GSW 36-20
- USA scored 39 points off the bench in the contest
- South Alabama scored 22 points while forcing 22 turnovers and recording 13 steals in the game.

THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "Great win on opening night. First of all, I want to thank the crowd that came out for opening night. A lot of things were going on here. I thought we had a good crowd, and I really appreciate the students for coming out and our fans. I thought in the first quarter, we really came out and executed and did the things we were supposed to do. We played really good defense, which led to some easy baskets. In the second quarter, our defense was not as good, and they were scoring, so we were going against their half-court since they slowed us down. The challenge at halftime was to just come out and get on the board. We had to pick up our defense and get some transition baskets, and I think that carried over to the third and fourth quarters."
 
On tonight's win: "We've got some kids that can score the basketball. Defensively, we held them down right where we wanted to, and we were just able to put the ball in the basket. At the same time, we gave away several opportunities, and we've got to be better at the free-throw line as well."
 
On things to build on: "We've got to go back and look at the film. We've got to get ready for a very talented and physical North Carolina State team and North Carolina next weekend. This is a great building block, but we're jumping into the fire of the ACC. I think the exhibition against Tulane last week help us to adjust to the size, the height, and the length, so it won't be a complete shock when we go over next week."
 
Chyna Ellis
On career high in rebounds: "It's my role as a rebounder, so I just decided to go and get it."
 
On dominating Georgia Southwestern: "It's big. I try to dominate every game because that's my role as a rebounder; at 6'2" that's what you're supposed to do. It's big because this is our first game, and we're just trying to set the tone for the rest of the season."
 
Savannah Jones
On what was working offensively: "My shot and my confidence. My teammates believed in me and kept telling me to shoot."
 
On importance of early wins: "It's really big because it's the start of our season, so it gives us confidence, and we've just got to keep moving forward from this win."

On how good the team can be: "This team has a lot of potential. We just have to tap into it, work hard in practice, and carry it over to the games."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars will travel to Raleigh, N.C., to take on North Carolina State on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. (C.T.)

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).

Join the Jaguar Athletic Fund (JAF) Priority Fund, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to the Priority Fund directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give

—USA—