MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball faces Appalachian State at home on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.  The game will be part of a doubleheader as the men's teams will square off afterwards.
 
Fans can watch the game through USAJaguars.com, listen at http://995thejag.com/listen, or get updates on Twitter (@SouthALWBB) or live stats via USAJaguars.com.
 
The meeting between South Alabama and Appalachian State will mark the seventh in the all-time series between the two clubs.  The first meeting in the series, an 85-65 win for the Mountaineers on Dec. 21, 1995 in the Carolina Holiday Beach Classic, was just one day after the Jaguars' first ever meeting with Coastal Carolina.
 
Since entering the Sun Belt Conference for the 2014-15 athletic season, both teams have won two games against each other.  Appalachian State swept the series two years ago with a 67-63 win in Mobile and 70-59 victory at home.  South Alabama won both meetings last season with a 71-55 win in Boone, N.C. and 68-54 victory at the Mitchell Center.  Fourth-year South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler and third-year head coach Angel Elderkin have been the school's coaches for all conference games against each other.
 
South Alabama fell 61-45 to Coastal Carolina on Thursday night.  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.  Trailing 29-28 a minute and 20 seconds into the third quarter, the Chanticleers raw away from the Jaguars with an 18-3 run for the rest of the quarter.  The Jags went just 1-14 from the field and had three turnovers during the run.
 
After a Chanticleers' layup to start the fourth quarter, the Jags went on an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to eight points with 7:23 left in the game with baskets on three-straight possessions.  Coastal Carolina responded with an 8-3 run over the next four minutes to end the comeback attempt.
 
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 an edge in fast break points (10-2) and points off turnovers (22-12).
 
Genesis Perrymond was the only Jag to get in double-digits in scoring with 10 points.  Chyna Ellis was just one-point shy of a double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds and blocked a game-high five shots to tie her season-high.
 
Ellis enters the game averaging 3.0 rejections per game that tops the Sun Belt and ranks 11th in the NCAA.  She has recorded a block in each game played this season and is 15th in the nation and first in the conference in total blocked shots (68).  Her total number of blocks this season are more than five of the schools in the conference have as a team and average rejections per game is greater than six teams' average.
 
She already has the third-most blocks in a single-season in program history. With her five rejections against Coastal Carolina (2/16), she moved ahead of Delk's 2004 total of 65 and surpassed Jenkins' 1984 total of 62 with two rejections at Louisiana-Monroe.  Previously she tied Adrian Vickers' 1990 total with four blocks at Louisiana-Lafayette (2/9) and surpassed her freshman total of 56 with two blocks at Troy (2/4).
 
With 206 career blocks, she needs just five more blocks to become the all-time leader in rejections by the end of this season.  She is also on pace for 86 rejections this season, which would surpass her blocked shot total (82) from last year and tie Jenkins'  single-season blocks record set in 1983.
 
Appalachian State (10-15, 5-9) enters the game with a two-game losing streak, dropping its road game at Troy 86-77 on Thursday and a home game 59-55 to Georgia State.  - The Mountaineers had a two-game winning streak before their current losing streak that had ended a four-game losing streak in the conference.  With a 5-9 record in the Sun Belt Conference, the Mountaineers are tied for eighth in the conference standings with Coastal Carolina, a game behind Georgia State and a game and a half above Arkansas State and South Alabama.
 
Appalachian State has averaged 63.4 ppg while giving up 66.0.  Opponents have averaged 39.8% from the field and 30.4% from three while the Mountaineers have shot 37.7% from the field and 28.4% from three.  Appalachian State has averaged 4.1 blocks per game, third-highest in the conference.
 
The Mountaineers have two of the top 10 scorers in the SBC.  Junior guard Madi Story ranks ninth with a 13.5 ppg average and is also fifth in minutes played (34.2 mpg), ninth in three-point field goal percentage (35.6%), tied for 10th in rebounding (6.5 rpg), 14th in made three's (1.3 per game) and 15th in steals (1.5 spg).  Senior guard Joi Jones ranks 10th in scoring (13.1 ppg).  Redshirt-sophomore guard Q. Murray is the only other Mountaineer that averages double-digits in scoring (10.2) that places her 22nd in the league and also is fifth in steals (2.0 spg) and sixth in minutes played (33.2 mpg).
 
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).