Game Notes
Game 34 • South Alabama Jaguars (21-12, 11-7 SBC) at Yale Bulldogs (17-13, 8-6 Ivy League)
March 24, 2018 • 4:00 p.m. (C.T.) • Payne Whitney Gym • New Haven, Conn.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Terry Fowler (Lane [Tenn.], '86)
Record at USA: 60-91 (5th year)
Overall Record: 267-269 (18th year)

Yale
Alison Guth
(Illinois, '04)
Record at Yale: 46-42 (3)
Overall Record: 46-42 (3)
 
LAST GAME.
South Alabama took down Stetson, 54-53, behind an Antoinette Lewis layup with five seconds left.

NEXT GAME
If the Jags defeat the Bulldogs, they will face the winner of Nevada and Central Arkansas on Wednesday or Thursday in the WBI Championship on the road.

ON THE AIR
On the web: https://www.ivyleaguenetwork.com/ivyleague/game/south-alabama-at-yale-wbb-03232018
On the air: https://www.iheart.com/live/995-the-jag-mobile-7117/; 99.5 FM The Jag, pbp JT Crabtree
Live Stats: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-baskbl/2017-18/boxscores/20180324_ffv8.xml

RANKINGS (Games played through Mar. 11)
USA: #179 RPI
Furman: #126 RPI

THE SERIES
The Jags have never faced the Bulldogs and it is South's first game against an Ivy League program.

OPENING TIP
- The Jags won a barn burner against Furman, 54-53, behind an Antoinette Lewis layup with five seconds left.
- This is the first time South Alabama has won 21 games since the 2008-09 season.
- The matchup against Yale will be the first against an Ivy League opponent in program history.
- USA is 4-4 in postseason games in program history.
- South Alabama tied the SBC Tournament record set by WKU in 2003 for made threes in a game with 13 against ULM (Mar. 6).
- Chyna Ellis collected her 94th block this season against ULM to break her single-season record she set last season and has 104 for the season.
- Ellis was named first-team all-conference and Defensive Player of the Year by the league office on Mar. 5, while Savannah Jones was named Freshman of the Year.
- Against Coastal Carolina (Jan. 18), Ellis' 10 rejections were a career-high and is now the individual record for a women's basketball player at the Mitchell Center.
- Since Ellis has been at South Alabama, the Jaguars have had 715 blocks. The team only had 697 blocks the previous nine seasons combined.
- South Alabama is 8-6 on the road, 12-5 at home and 1-1 at neutral sites this season.
- South Alabama received a vote in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll during week 9 of the poll, marking the first time since the 2008-09 season the Jags have received a vote in the poll.
- South Alabama has had at least two players score 10 or more point per game in every contest except for two.
- USA has had 15 20 or more point scoring efforts this season. Ellis has had seven, including a career-high 24 points against Southern Mississippi.
- Ellis has 13 double-doubles this season and Lewis has three.
- Ellis has had double-digit points in 25 games, while recording double-digit rebounds in 15.
- Jones has scored in double-digits 22 times this season, Shaforia Kines has done so 12 times, Lewis 11 times, while Genesis Perrymond has done so seven times and Erin Autio has scored double-figures in six games.
- South Alabama has four scorers averaging eight or more points per contest, Ellis (13.8), Jones (12.1), Kines (9.1), and Lewis (8.9).
- USA has had three players record three blocks in a game this season, Ellis 19 times, Lewis seven times and Guillory four times.
- Jones has made 67 three-pointers this season, the most by a freshman in program history, and is in the top-10 for freshman scoring in a season with 388 points.
- Lewis has the third-most blocks by a freshman in a season with 41.
- Ellis became the 19th women's basketball player in program history reach 1,000 points earlier this season.
- Ellis has 335 blocks for her career and is in the top-10 for blocks for a season during all four-years of her career at South Alabama. No other player has done that in any category in program history.
- South Alabama is 7-5 in games decided by single digits.
- The Jags have won 13 of their 21 games by double digits, including seven by 20 or more points.
- USA is 14-0 when outrebounding its opponent.
- When scoring 70 or more, South Alabama is 12-2.
- The Jags have only given up a halftime or third-quarter lead three-times this season.
- Yale is 17-13 this season.
- The Bulldogs are coming off wins at Northeastern and Binghamton to reach the WBI Final Four.
- Jen Burkowitz leads Yale in points (14.2), rebounds (7.0) and blocks (25).
- Roxy Barahman leads the Bulldogs with 120 assists.
- Tamara Simpson has 122 steals to lead Yale.
 
THEY SAID IT
Head Coach Terry Fowler
On Monday's win against Furman: "I thought we fought and did things we needed to do to win. We've been playing these close games here lately. I think we've gotten better and better in each situation. Three of those games we had to do things at the defensive end of the floor, and in this game we had to make the offensive play. It was good to see us do that. I was excited our kids never gave up. We always talk about playing until there are triple zeros and the horn sounds."
 
On practicing close game situations and seeing it executed by Antoinette Lewis: "She (Lewis) did exactly what we worked on. She drove on the long close out and was able to finish it at the basket. It was basically the same play we ran at North Carolina except they really crowded Chyna (Ellis) and she wasn't open. The defender came out on Nette thinking she was going to take that shot and she drove past her to score. It was great to see us execute."
 
On Yale: "They play extremely hard, but the thing is their dribble-drive motion. They are all same size 5'10, 5'11, 6'0. They can create mismatches with our smaller guards. They shoot the ball decent, but it's the fact that their dribble-drive is tough. They want to push the ball and they can score in multiple positions. We need to be ready to play and we have to take use our size advantage over them. We want to pound the ball and get into the paint."
 
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—USA—