CONWAY, S.C. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team earned its first Sun Belt win of the season on Saturday afternoon, beating Coastal Carolina 88-78 on the road at the HTC Center.
The Jags started out in control of the contest thanks to a 19-3 run sparked by Savannah Jones in the first, and held a four-point lead at the end of the quarter. After heading into halftime down by five, South put up 30 points in the third quarter to build a lead and did not let Coastal get back into the game, maintaining their 10-point margin of victory for the majority of the fourth quarter.
Jones had herself a career day, starting out the game 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 from the floor. Jones finished out the game 7-of-14 from three, and 10-of-19 from the floor, on the way to putting up a career-high 30 points.
Coming off the first double-double of her career, Shaforia Kines jumped right back into the action and went 5-of-9 from three en route to posting 22 points, six assists, and five rebounds.
The Jags set a season-high with 12 three-pointers made in the contest, and went 6-of-9 from deep in the third quarter to go on a 14-0 run into the fourth quarter that helped establish their 10-point lead on the Chanticleers.
Caitlin Roche led Coastal Carolina with 22 points, while the Sun Belt leading scorer, D.J. Williams, came off the bench to add 19 points for the Chanticleers.
GAME FACTS
- Jones and Kines combined to shoot 12-of-23 from three and were the only two Jags to connect on a deep ball in the contest. As a team, South shot 12-of-31 from three.
- Antoinette Lewis missed her fifth double-double of the season by two rebounds, posting 12 points and eight rebounds. Lewis shot 3-for-5 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line.
- Kennedi Centers set a new season-high and tied a career-high with 10 points. Centers notched a game-high four steals and added seven rebounds, three on the offensive side of the board.
- The Jaguars shot .448 from the floor and .615 from the free-throw line while holding Coastal to .333 from the floor and .600 from the free-throw line. The Chanticleers went 9-for-29 from deep.
- The back and forth game saw nine lead changes and seven ties, while South held the lead for 19:11 and Coastal held it for 16:48.
NOTES
- Jones' 30 points were the most scored by a Jaguar since Marquita Daniels put up 33 against Troy on March 8, 2015.
- South shot .611 from the floor in the third and outscored Coastal 30-19 quarter, marking the second time this season the Jags have put up 30 in a quarter and the first against a division-one opponent this season.
- Coastal out-rebounded the Jags 64-40, and 29-7 on the offensive side. Minus-24 is the largest rebounding margin against an opponent for South this season and contributed to 15 second-chance points for the Chanticleers.
- Coastal Carolina put up a season-high 40 bench points against the Jags.
- The Jags now lead the series matchup with the Chanticleers 3-2 and will face them again in Mobile, Ala., on March 7th in the last weekend of Sun Belt regular season play.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
Opening Statement: " I thought this was, outside of the Alabama game, the best game we played all year. We put 40 minutes together. Through the first half, the game was on a great pace, although I was a little concerned at halftime that Coastal was on a 90-point pace. We challenged our players to pick it up on the defensive side of the ball, and we held them to 33 points in the second half. I thought that was the difference in the ballgame."
On coming out after the half and battling back: "It started with us getting stops and then we were able to convert. Our stops started becoming transition layups, so we didn't have to get into our half-court offense much. We found the open shooters, and just made the right plays. That was the most important thing. Savannah Jones and Shaforia Kines made big shot after big shot."
On Savannah Jones: "She came out on fire, started the game off hot. Hit a little lull in the second quarter, but she picked it right back up. She had the look and you could tell she was in a flow. Excited to see her with the opportunity today."
Savannah Jones
On her performance in today's game: "I was able to get open, my teammates found me and I had the confidence to take the open shot. They were falling for me today, so I felt like I was hot and was able to keep shooting.
On having big games on the road: "I feel like the intensity and the atmosphere on the road, those games are always the most fun."
UP NEXT
South Alabama returns home to the Mitchell Center on Thursday, Jan. 10 to face off against Arkansas State. Tip off vs. the Red Wolves is set for 7 p.m. in Mobile, Ala.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
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