MOBILE, Ala. – The South Alabama women's basketball team (5-2) had a four-game winning streak snapped in a heartbreaking loss to the Jacksonville Dolphins (5-4), 60-58. This was the Jags first loss since Nov. 17 at North Carolina State.
 
USA trailed by two points, 58-56, with 46 seconds left after Antoinette Lewis went 1-for-2 at the free throw line. After a stop and a Genesis Perrymond rebound, the Jags advanced the ball beyond half-court on a timeout with 33 ticks remaining on the scoreboard.
 
Chyna Ellis took the Perrymond inbound pass and drained a jumper with 31 seconds left. Jacksonville's Jasmyn Brown grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it in to give the Dolphins a 70-68 lead, and drew a foul with three seconds on the scoreboard.
 
Brown nullified the free-throw attempt on a lane violation, giving South Alabama a chance to tie it with a two or take the lead at other end. Savannah Jones put up a desperation three-pointer, but the attempt fell short, hitting the front of the rim as time expired.
 
GAME FACTS
- The Jags started the game on a 6-0 run during the first 2:15.
- Candice Williams ended an 0-for-8 from the field run and 2:31 scoring drought for the Jags at the end of the first.
- The Dolphins took a two-point lead with 6:18 left in the second and did not trail from that point on.
- USA had three double-digit scorers, Ellis with a game-high 17, Perrymond with 14 and Erin Autio with 10.
- Ellis shot 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, while grabbing a game-high 8 rebounds and handing out three rejections.
- Perrymond shot 5-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point range, and Autio shot 4-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from deep.
- The Jags converted 10 points off of 16 Jacksonville turnovers, while giving up 15 points off 14 turnovers.
- USA shot 38 percent from the field, while JU shot 36.1 percent, but the Dolphins were 43.5 percent from three-point range and made four more threes than the Jags.
- South Alabama was outrebound 33-44, and the Dolphins converted 11 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds to USA's two points on six offensive boards.
- Jacksonville had three double-digit scorers and were led by Brown who had 14 on 6-of-13 from the field.
- LaKaris Salter and Brandi Buie had 11 and 13, respectively. Salter shot 50 percent from the field, 3-of-5 on three-pointers and Buie went 5-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
 
NOTES
- Ellis had her sixth double-digit scoring game of the season.
- LaNeetra Guillory tied a career-high with three blocks, the fifth three-block effort of her career.
- Autio and Perrymond each had their second-double digit scoring effort of the season.
- Perrymond's 37 minutes on the court is the most played by a Jag this season.
- The largest lead for both teams was six points.
- This was the Jags first home loss of the season.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "We knew it was going to be a tough, hard-fought game against Jacksonville. It just felt like we didn't have the energy to start the game. To our credit, we did come back and fight to put ourselves in a position to win the game. Offensive boards were a killer for us. We just never got in a rhythm offensively, never played with the type of pace we wanted to play with. Those are things that just really hindered us today."
 
On getting back into the game: "I thought we got some stops and we got some transition. We got the ball up the floor a little quicker, and we were able to get the ball inside from that point as well."
 
On upperclassmen carrying the load in the game: "Chyna [Ellis] really got it going inside. Genesis [Perrymond] had some great shots to keep us in the ball game. Erin [Autio] got us off to a good start and got us going. It's good for our seniors to be able to will us a little bit."
 
UP NEXT
The Jaguars look to get back on the winning end against Ole Miss on Saturday. Opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. (C.T.) in Oxford, Miss.
 
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).

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—USA—