MONROE, La. – The University of South Alabama's women's basketball team (8-15, 3-9) ended its eight-game losing streak with a 77-47 victory over Louisiana-Monroe (5-20, 2-12) on Saturday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.  The Jaguars led the Warhawks by double-digits in all but one minute after the first quarter.
 
"I thought we did a great job of sharing the basketball with 19 assists on 28 made field goals," said South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler.  "Everybody was sharing it, and that created energy for the team.  We were able to make shots as well.  On defense we did an outstanding job and completed the effort by dominating on the glass."
 
Louisiana-Monroe scored the first point of the game on a free throw in its second possession, but South Alabama went on a 10-0 run with baskets in four-straight possessions.  Colby Davis got the Jags on the board with a layup, and Candice Williams hit a three-pointer on a pass by Genesis Perrymond.  Chyna Ellis then made a three off a dish by Davis, and Kennedi Centers capped the run with a layup after stealing the ball near half court.
 
The Jags ended the quarter with the last four points scored and led 16-7.
 
The Jags started the second quarter with an 8-2 run.  Ellis began the run with a three and then made a jumper off a pass by Shaforia Kines in the next possession.  Davis made a three in the following possession off another pass by Kines.
 
The Warhawks made consecutive three's, but the Jaguars responded with a quick 6-0 run.  Guillory got a layup with 4:11 remaining off a feed by Williams.  Kines got another layup for the Jags off a steal, and she fed Williams for a jumper on the next possession.  India Hall made a layup to give South Alabama a 35-20 lead at halftime.
 
Louisiana-Monroe scored a layup on the first possession of the second half, but South Alabama ripped off an 11-0 run that was almost five minutes long.  Centers started the run with a put back layup, and Ellis then got a layup off a pass by Perrymond.  Ellis split a pair of free throws, and Davis made both of her attempts at the line with 6:39 left in the third quarter.  Ellis made a jumper off an inbounds play, and Guillory got a layup off an offensive rebound in the next possession. 
 
After the Warhawks snapped their scoreless drought with a three-pointer at the 4:15 mark of the quarter, the Jags went on another quick 6-0 run with points in three-straight possessions.  Davis split a pair of free throws, Guillory made both of her attempts at the charity stripe and Davis converted a three-point play after getting fouled on a made layup.
 
The Jags were able to stretch their lead to 35 points, the largest of the game, with a 17-4 run in the fourth quarter.  Ellis got the run going with a layup on a pass by Perrymond.  London made a pair of free throws, Centers hit a jumper in the paint off another pass by Perrymond, and Centers then made two free throws for four-straight possessions with points.  Centers and Guillory then hit back-to-back jumpers before Erin Autio drained a three-pointer and Kines made a fast break layup after getting a steal.
 
The Jags shot 43.8% (28-64) from the field, 35.0% (7-20) from three and 64.7% (11-17) from the free throw line and held the Warhawks to 28.0% (14-50) from the field and 19.0% (4-21) from three.  Three different Jags made two three-pointers: Williams (2-2), Ellis (2-4) and Davis (2-5).
 
South Alabama had the edge on the glass, outrebounding Louisiana-Monroe 44-30.  The Jags turned 19 offensive boards into a 15-6 advantage in second chance points that also helped them outscore the Warhawks 32-18 in points in the paint.
 
The Jags finished with 19 assists to 11 turnovers for the second-highest assist/turnover ratio in a game this season.  Capitalizing off of the Warhawks' 17 turnovers, the Jags had the advantage in points off turnovers (27-9) and fast break points (8-0).  Perrymond had a game-high six assists and one turnover, and Kines had three dimes and no turnovers.  Davis and Williams both had three assists and one turnover.
 
"Louisiana-Monroe has a tendency to turn the ball over," said Fowler.  "The players needed to be ready to capitalize off their turnovers, and we certainly did so.  We talked about the three-on-two and two-on-one situations and getting points off of them."
 
South Alabama had five different players score over ten points for the first time since its 83-45 win against Georgia State on the exact same date last year.  Ellis scored a game-high 15 points and also had a team-high eight rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist.  With her two rejections she now has 63 on the year, moving her to fourth-place in program history for most blocks in a season.  She passed LaSandra Jenkins' 1984 total of 62 rejections.
 
Davis scored 14 points on 4-8 shooting and went 4-5 at the free throw line.  She also had three assists and three rebounds.  Centers had the first double-digit scoring game of her career, producing 10 points in addition to seven rebounds and a steal.
 
Williams and Guillory both scored a dozen points.  Williams went 5-9 from the field for her fifth double-digit scoring game of the year.  Guillory was an efficient 5-8 from the field and made both free throw attempts for her first double-digit scoring game of the season.  Also she grabbed three rebounds and blocked a game-high three shots, tying her career-high.
 
"It's awesome to see the kids in the locker room happy, excited and proud of their effort being rewarded," said Fowler.  "One thing we talked about was our run last season started at Louisiana-Monroe.  We had a tough game and then had a good performance that led to some momentum for the rest of the year.  Hopefully that can be the case this season."
 
The Jags return home to face the two Sun Belt Carolina schools next week, starting with Coastal Carolina on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
 
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).