MOBILE, Ala. - The University of South Alabama women's basketball team improved to 18-5 (7-5 SBC) with a 73-60 victory over the Georgia Southern Eagles on Thursday night at the Mitchell Center. 

While the Jaguars maintained a steady lead for the majority of the game, Georgia Southern held it close until the fourth quarter. In fact, Alexis Brown hit a three-pointer for the Eagles at the start of the fourth to give her team a 45-44 advantage. The Jaguars took back their lead on the next possession as Antoinette Lewis layed one in for two to spark a 13-3 run for South, which took the game out of Georgia Southern's reach. 

The Jaguars put up 30 points and shot a stout 68.8 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, and after Alexis Brown's made three-pointer the Eagles went on a five-minute long field-goal drought that they did not recover from. Brown finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Eagles, putting up her second-consecutive double-double vs. the Jags. 

Savannah Jones was the leading scorer in tonight's game for either side. The sophomore guard finished with 28 points and eight rebounds for the Jaguars. Jones tied a career high with seven three-pointers made in the contest, and shot 8-for-19 from the floor and 63.6 percent from behind the arc. 

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the ballgame in the first quarter. The Jags went up 11-7 thanks to that run, but Georgia Southern ended the first with a 13-11 lead. 
- Savannah Jones went 3-for-3 from three to start off the game and had nine of the Jags first 11 points. 
- The Jaguars outpaced Georgia Southern 16-11 in the second quarter to take a four-point lead into the half, and held on to its lead for over 33 minutes in the game. 
- Lewis posted seven of her 12 points in the fourth quarter for the Jaguars, all in the paint. 
- Damaya Telemaque tied her Sun Belt high with 13 points, and added four rebounds and five assists to lead the Jags in helpers for the 13th time this season. 
- Freshman guard, Mahogany Vaught played a career-high 19 minutes in tonights game, surpassing her previous high of 12. Vaught posted a career-best seven points on 3-for-5 shooting.

NOTES
- South Alabama improved to 10-7 all-time vs. Georgia Southern and has swept the regular season series vs. the Eagles this year. The two teams will not meet again unless they match up in the conference tournament. 
- The Jaguars have now shot above 60 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter nine times this season. 
- Shaforia Kines left tonight's game due to injury in the first quarter, and did not return. 
- The Jags sit in fifth place in the Sun Belt Standings, and welcome fourth place Georgia State to town on Saturday. 

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "First of all, I want to thank everybody that came out to the game today. We felt the energy. We got off to a shaky start and then we had adversity and lost Shaforia Kines, but our team fought. We got some big plays from Mahogany Vaught and Emerald Hart. There were some big-time plays from those guys. I'm excited to have them come in and step up. We couldn't get the ball on the inside. Savannah Jones carried us in the first half and then in the second half we were able to get it inside to Antoinette Lewis, which loosened it up for Jones. We had some transition baskets we felt like we weren't getting in the first half. We were able to kind of get a lead and break away. We were able to make some timely free throws."

On the team stepping up tonight: "We've been talking about it. Players who haven't been playing want to get in the game. You've just got to be prepared. You never know when your number is going to be called. Tonight was one of those nights that we needed some players to step up and they did. It was huge for us. As we move forward into Saturday, it will give us some confidence and give those players some confidence." 

On rearranging the lineup after injuries: "We've just got to play. We always talk about the 'next player' mentality. We just have to keep playing and we'll see what happens when Kines goes to the doctor. We'll see how everything goes. Our team has confidence in all 14 players, and that's a good thing. We'll just take the next player up." 

On the late run to put the game away: "We rebounded the ball a little bit in that stretch where we kind of separated. We were able to get some easy baskets. Again, we were throwing the ball inside to Lewis and she was able to finish around the basket. That loosened it up for the rest of the team." 

Sophomore guard Savannah Jones
On her performance tonight: "My coaches always tell me to stay engaged, so that's what I do. That's what I did this game. I took up the energy from the bench. They came up and stepped up for us, so I played off of the energy our team brought."

On the team stepping up after Kines' injury: "That's really big for us. Like Coach always says, it's a team effort. To see other players getting better means that we're getting better. That's good to see."

UP NEXT
South Alabama remains at home to take on Georgia State on Saturday Feb. 16. Tip-off vs. the Panthers is slated for 3 p.m. at the Mitchell Center 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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