MOBILE, Ala. – Damaya Telemaque scored a game-high 13 points while Antoinette Lewis added a double-double to lift the University of South Alabama women's basketball team to a 68-52 non-conference victory over William Carey at the Mitchell Center on Tuesday.
Telemaque finished 4-of-6 from the field and hit all four of her free-throw attempts, adding four rebounds and two assists as the Jaguars (5-6) bounced back after falling at Southern Mississippi two days earlier. Lewis recorded 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds along with three blocked shots and three steals as South had seven individuals score at least five points in the contest.
Rebekah Engle was the only player in double figures for the Lady Crusaders after posting 11 points, while Cotoria Blackman led WCU with six boards.
GAME FACTS
-The Jaguars were 7-of-14 from the floor while also making 9-of-10 free-throw attempts to build a 24-16 lead at the end of the opening period.
-USA was up 38-23 at the half, recording a 20-6 edge in points in the paint while outscoring WCU 10-0 on the break over the first 20 minutes of action.
-The Lady Crusaders won the third quarter after South shot just 1-of-8 in the period from three-point range, but the Jags still led 52-39 going to the final period.
-An 8-0 run over a minute-and-a-half span just before the midway point of the fourth quarter helped the Jaguars pull away.
-Both teams were charged with 20 or more turnovers, but the Jags scored 10 more points — recording a 22-12 edge in the category — off of them.
-USA had just one more offensive rebound than the Lady Crusaders but finished with a 14-4 advantage in second-chance points as well.
NOTES
-The Jags have now won four of five match-ups in the regular-season series with WCU.
-South has been victorious in 27 straight contests against non-NCAA Division I opponents dating back to the 1989-90 season.
-It was the second time this year that USA has never trailed in a contest; the Jaguars also accomplished the feat in a Nov. 26 win over Mobile.
-The Jags finished with a season-high 12 steals, which led to 25 WCU turnovers — that's the most an opponent has committed so far this season.
-South's 42 points in the paint equaled its total from the two previous games combined.
-The Jaguars used their third different lineup of the year with senior Kennedi Centers making her first start since a victory at Southern on Nov. 19 last year.
-With three-and-a-half minutes remaining in the opening quarter, Savannah Jones connected on a pair of free throws to become the 20th player in school history to record 1,000 career points.
-It was the first time that Telemaque has led the Jags in scoring since sharing team-high honors with 15 points in the opener against Rutgers on Nov. 5.
-Lewis has now posted a double-double six times this season while she has been credited with 10 or more boards in five straight outings.
-Devyn Lowe shared game-high honors with three steals, the third time she has accomplished the feat this year which is tied for the most on the Jaguar roster.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "I really thought we got out to a good start and jumped on them early, although they came out and hit some threes and got themselves back in the ball game. We knew that they were a really good shooting team, they proved that tonight shooting 44 percent from the three-point line. I just felt like we didn't play with the energy that we needed to play with in this game, but we were able to come out and do some things to give ourselves a lead and just moved on from there to finish the ball game."
On the health of the team: "From an injury standpoint, I think that we're getting a lot better, but then the flu bug hit us a little bit and I think that's taken a toll on us from an energy standpoint. We had some players that missed [practice] all last week. When you lose a week of conditioning it's hard for you to come in and try to play, so we're trying to get that stamina back. We have to play games and no one is going to care [about our health]. We have to make sure we're ready to go and fight against East Tennessee State so that we can go into the break with a win, then come back and start [Sun Belt] conference play."
On what the team needs to do to improve its three-point shooting: "They didn't fall all night for us; I thought we got open looks, but they just didn't fall. We've got to get in the gym and get those shots, that's the main thing. This team is confident in its shooting, we just have to get back into a groove. It's all about rhythm and how we play, we normally play inside-out and that's how we catch and shoot our threes. We just didn't do that much tonight."
Sophomore G Damaya Telemaque
On her efficient night offensively: "In practice, I've gone over the same type of shots so I haven't really worried about my shooting. I'm working more on [limiting] my turnovers right now, but going to practice and putting up shots paid off."
On what led to the lack of energy in the game: "We can go back to our practices; some of our practices [this week] haven't been so great. We're still figuring out what we need to do to bring back the energy we had at the beginning of the season and build off of that."
On getting back in the win column as the team prepares for Sun Belt Conference play: "To me, this was another game; you win some, you lose some. We didn't play with the energy that we needed to, but to come out with a win is still good. We're now moving on to East Tennessee State."
Up next: South closes out the month with a 6 p.m. (CST) contest at East Tennessee State on Friday.
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).
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