MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama's women's basketball team (8-16, 3-10) fell 61-45 to Coastal Carolina (10-14, 5-9) on Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.  Trailing 29-28 a minute and 20 seconds into the third quarter, the Chanticleers separated themselves from the Jaguars with an 18-3 run for the rest of the quarter and led by double-digits in the fourth quarter for all but one minute.
 
"I thought we got off to a sluggish start," said South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler.  "The key in the first half was that they had 14 points off of turnovers. Six or seven of them were a steal going down and getting a layup. We got it back to a four-point game at halftime and got the lead. Then they answered with a 10-0 run. That was huge, and we never got back from that. We cut it back to seven and had a chance in the fourth quarter to make it a ballgame, but (Ced) Gibson answered shot after shot. Every time we did something she came back with a three and had a big game. Then (Courtney) Clasen comes in and goes 4-5 (from three) and had a big game. She has really been good shooting the three-ball this season for them."
 
South Alabama scored the first five points in the second half on consecutive possessions to take its first lead of the game since being up 3-2 in the first quarter.  Candice Williams made a layup, and Chyna Ellis drained a three-pointer off a pass from Colby Davis.  Clasen then hit a three of her own in Coastal Carolina's next possession to start the Chanticleer's long run in the quarter.  The Jags went just 1-14 from the field and had three turnovers during the run.  LaNeetra Guillory converted a three-point play after getting fouled on a jumper in the lane for the three Jags' points.
 
After Gibson made a layup to start the fourth quarter, the Jags went on an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to eight points with 7:23 remaining in the game with baskets on three-straight possessions.  Kennedi Centers made a pair of free throws and Erin Autio and Genesis Perrymond both hit a three.
 
Coastal Carolina responded with an 8-3 run over the next four minutes to end South Alabama's comeback attempt.  Clasen hit a three-pointer, and Gibson made a three and a jumper.
 
"We have to score," said Fowler.  "Tonight we had opportunities where we could have scored the ball. They've been (averaging) about 58 (points per game) in league play. We could have held them down to 50 and got up. That's the one thing we have to do… is we just have to score. Our defense can't just hold shutouts. We have to put the ball in the basket somehow. We didn't have a lot of turnovers tonight, but the turnovers turned into points. Those were easy baskets for them."
 
Coastal Carolina jumped out an early lead with a 9-3 run in the first four minutes of the game.  South Alabama then ended the quarter with a 7-3 run to trail 12-10 heading into the second quarter.  Ellis made a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound, Guillory split a pair of free throws and Perrymond made a jumper just in front of the three-point line and ended the quarter with a layup.
 
Both teams traded a couple of baskets in the first two minutes of the second quarter, and then the Chanticleers grabbed their first double-digit lead with an 8-0 run to go up 26-16 halfway through the quarter.  Just like the first quarter, the Jags responded to the Chanticleers' run with one of their own.  They held the Chanticleers scoreless for four minutes and scored eight points.  Davis made two three-pointers and Ellis got a fastbreak layup after a steal.
 
Gibson and Clasen combined for 41 points.  Gibson went 9-13 (69.2%) from the field and 5-7 (71.4%) from three and scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half.  Clasen was 7-10 (70%) from the field and 4-5 (80%) from three and had 12 of her 18 in the second half.  The Chanticleers shot just 35.7% (25-58) from the field but made 71.4% (10-14) of their three-point attempts.
 
The Jags went 16-57 (28.1%) from the field, 7-19 (36.8%) from three and 6-10 (60%) from the free throw line.
 
Coastal Carolina won the turnover battle, finishing with 18 assists to 10 turnovers while South Alabama had eight assists and 16 turnovers.  The Chanticleers took advantage of the Jags' turnovers for a clear edge in fast break points (10-2) and points off turnovers (22-12).
 
South Alabama won the rebounding battle 40-36, but only converted 17 offensive rebounds into five second chance points.  Coastal Carolina was able to turn 13 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points.
 
Perrymond was the only Jag to get in double-digits in scoring with 10 points and had seven of them in the first quarter.  She went 4-7 from the field and 2-5 from three.
 
Ellis was just one-point shy of a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds.  She blocked a game-high five shots to tie her season-high.  She now has 68 blocks this season that moves her to third-place on the programs' single-season blocked shots leaders, passing Genevieve Delk's 2004 total of 65 rejections.  With 206 career blocks she needs just five more blocks to become the program's career blocks leader.
 
The Jags face the other Sun Belt Carolina school, Appalachian State, on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.  The game is part of a doubleheader with the men's teams squaring off afterwards.
 
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).