Game 20 • South Alabama Jaguars (16-3, 5-3 SBC) vs. Troy (16-3, 7-1 SBC) • February 2, 2019 • 3:00 p.m. • Mitchell Center • MOBILE, Ala.

THE COACHES
South Alabama
Terry Fowler, (Lane [Tenn.], '86)
Record at USA: 76-95, 40-62 SBC (6)
Overall: 283–273 (20)
vs. Troy: 2-7

Troy
Chandra Rigby, (Southeastern La. '99)
at Troy: 115-93 (7)
Overall: 344-192 (17)
vs. South Alabama: 9-2

LAST GAME
The University of South Alabama women's basketball team exploded in the fourth quarter against the Warhawks of ULM to earn a 77-49 win Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.

With the game tied at 44 heading into the fourth quarter, and ULM holding the lead for most of the day it was either teams ballgame. The Jaguar defense stepped up and went into a diamond press to force ULM into dire situations and the turnovers started coming. Savannah Jones and the offense capitalized off of those turnovers and went on a roll, determined to walk away with the win. 

All told, the Jags finished the game on a 47-9 run, outscored the Warhawks 33-5 in the fourth quarter, and shot an outstanding 73.7 percent from the floor in the quarter. Jones was a force on the perimeter for the Jags and put up 11 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter.

NEXT GAME
South Alabama hits the road to take on Arkansas State on Thursday, Feb. 9. Tip off vs. the Red Wolves is slated for 7p.m. at the First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro, Ark.

MULTIMEDIA
Television: ESPN+
Radio: 99.5 FM
Live Stats: USAJaguars.com
Live Audio: USAJaguars.com
Live Video: USAJaguars.com

SERIES NOTES    
South Alabama and Troy have met a total of 48 times dating back 1975. The Trojans lead the all-time matchup 26-22 while the Jaguars lead 18-8 in Sun Belt games. Coach Terry Fowler is 2-7 vs. the Trojans while at South Alabama and has lost to in a row to Troy. 

The teams met three times last season, twice in the regular season and in the Sun Belt tournament. The Jags took the home matchup 79-68 on Jan. 13 and lost the road game and got knocked off, 79-82, in the second round of the conference tournament. The Jaguars own a 10-3 record vs. the Trojans in all games held at the Mitchell Center and last lost at home on Dec. 31 2016. 

OPENING TIP
South Alabama is coming off of a 77-49 home conference win over ULM on Saturday, Jan. 26, closing the game out on a 47-9 run to solidify a huge win over the Warhawks. Antoinette Lewis posted a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 boards to post her fifth double-double of the season. Lewis was named the Sun Belt Women's Player of the Week in part to her efforts in beating ULM. It was the third time this season Lewis has been given the award and fourth time in her career. 

Lewis connected on 12-of-17 shots against ULM and leads the Sun Belt in field-goal percentage at .614. The sophomore forward is 11th in the NCAA in FG percentage. Lewis leads the Jaguars in points per game (14.8), rebounds per game (8.8) and blocks (34).

The Jaguars are the leading three-point team in the Sun Belt and Savannah Jones has posted a .444 three-point field goal percentage through the first 19 games of the season. Jones ranks second in the conference and 18th in the NCAA. On the other side of the court, Troy is second behind the Jaguars in three-point defense, allowing opponents to connect on just 27.7 percent of their shots. 

Damaya Telemaque has started the last 18 games for the Jaguars. After coming off the bench for the season opener, the freshman guard hasn't missed a beat and leads the Jags with 70 assists. Telemaque has led the Jags in assists in 12 games this season and is averaging 9.7 points per game. 

The Trojans sit atop the Sun Belt standings with their only loss coming on the road at Georgia State (81-97). Scoring 81.2 points per game, the Trojans lead the Sun Belt in scoring offense and have shot .396 from the floor, .310 from behind the arc and .657 from the free-throw line. They are coming off a 90-64 win over Louisiana on Saturday, Jan. 26.

Kayla Robinson leads the way for Troy averaging 11.6 points per game. Six Trojans average at least 7.1 points per game and 11 players average at least 14.6 minutes of playing time per game. The Trojans lead the Nation in rebounding at 51.3 rebounds per game, and pull in 22.7 offensive boards per game. Sky'Lynn Holmes leads Troy with 9.9 rebounds per game while averaging 8.7 points per game. The Trojans lead the conference in steals per game at 10.5. 

The Trojans finished up last season with an 18-13 (12-6 SBC) record and entered the conference tournament with a four seed. Troy knocked the Jags out in the quarterfinals 82-79 before losing 63-66 to Little Rock in the semifinals. 

They Said It
Head Coach Terry Fowler 
On Troy: "Troy has been the Sun Belt representative at the NCAA tournament two of the last three years. Very talented group, well coached, I have great respect for Coach Rigby. They really get after you on the defensive end of the floor. You are going to get full-court pressure, their man-to-man defense is aggressive; in your face defense. Then, they really want to push it and get it out in transition. They want to get a lot of quick shots and a lot of possessions. What they really do better than anyone in the country is rebound the basketball. A relentless pursuit of the ball by all five players. They come in in waves and continue to do it, it's a forty minute battle. "

On their unselfish play: "Kayla Robinson is awesome; Sky'Lynn Holmes is having a great season as well. They just have a wealth of talent, and they're fine with having balanced scoring. We just have to make sure we can keep everybody a little bit below their average and just attack them. Have that attack mentality for forty minutes. There just cant be any lulls in the game for us." 

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). 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

—USA—