MOBILE, Ala  —  Game 30 • Round 1 of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament • No. 7 South Alabama Jaguars (20-9, 9-9 SBC) vs. No. 10 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (7-22, 5-13 SBC) • MARCH 11 2019 • 7:00 p.m. • Mitchell Center

THE COACHES
SOUTH ALABAMA
Terry Fowler, (Lane [Tenn.], '86)
at USA: 80-101, 44-68 SBC (6)
Overall: 287-278 (20)
vs. Louisiana: 4-6

LOUISIANA
Garry Brodhead, (Louisiana '80)
at Louisiana:115-108, 64-67 SBC (7) 
Overall: 115-108 (7)
vs. South Alabama: 6-6

LAST GAME
The University of South Alabama women's basketball team fell 50-59 to the Appalachian State Mountaineers in the Sun Belt Conference Regular season finale on senior day at the Mitchell Center. 

Heading into halftime the Jaguars were down by seven to App State. South Alabama made a run late in the third quarter to tie things up at 38 apiece and head into he fourth down by just three. The Mountaineers responded early in the fourth, went on a 7-0 run to take the lead, and the Jags couldn't get the game within four points for the rest of the contest. 

South Alabama shot a season-low 25 percent from the floor and went 4-of-23 from the three-point line. Alexis Sykes went 3-of-6 from three, while the rest of the team combined to go 1-of-17.

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

SERIES NOTES    
South Alabama and Louisiana have met a total of 53 times since their first matchup in November of 1987. The Jaguars own a 38-17 all-time record vs. the Ragin' Cajuns, and lead the series at the Mitchell Center 13-4. The Jags won the lone meeting of the year between the two schools, 83-60 on Jan. 24 at the Mitchell Center. South Alabama is 3-0 vs. the Ragin' Cajuns in the SBC tournament. Most recently winning 58-53 in 2011. The Jags also beat Louisiana 82-76 in 2010 and  49-40 in 2008. 

TICKETS
Tickets start at 7 dollars for the game and can be purchased at: jaguarathleticfund.com/wbtix

OPENING TIP
South Alabama enters the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Jaguars are coming off of a 50-59 loss to Appalachian State at the Mitchell Center on March 9. South Alabama shot a season-low 25 percent from the floor against the Mountaineers. Damaya Telemaque posted a team-high 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Appalachian State en route to posting the first double-double of her career. It was the freshman's 10th double figure scoring game of the season and a new Sun Belt high for her. 

The Jag women took their only meeting of the season with Louisiana, besting them 83-60 on Jan. 24 at home. Antoinette Lewis led the Jaguars with a 20-point performance against the Ragin' Cajuns and shot 8-of-14 from the floor. Shaforia Kines went 5-for-5 from the three-point line in that contest to finish with 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Freshman guard, Telemaque joined them in double figures with 13 points and added five assists in the win. 

South Alabama connected on 8-of-16 three pointers against Louisiana. The Jags rank second in the Sun Belt with a .332 field-goal percentage from deep. In wins, the Jaguars are averaging 8.3 threes made per game and shooting .380 from behind the arc while averaging 3.9 in losses and shooting .208. Against the Ragin Cajuns the Jags out-rebounded Louisiana 46-32. South Alabama is 11-1 when beating out their opponent on the glass. In addition to shooting .500 from three, the Jags went 34-of-61 from the floor for a .557 field-goal percentage, their second-highest total of the year. 

Louisiana enters round one of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the 10 seed. The Ragin' Cajuns sit at 5-13 in the Sun Belt and 7-22 overall. They have lost their previous five games and eight of their last nine. They come into the matchup with South Alabama after losing 73-75 to Arkansas State on Saturday. Their last win came against ULM on Feb. 16. The Ragin' Cajuns defeated ULM 55-52, and the Warhawks are the only Sun Belt foe they defeated twice this season. 

Louisiana is led by Ty'Reona Doucet and Brandi Williams. The duo averages 13.1 and 13.0 points per game respectively. Doucet leads the Ragin Cajuns in field-goal percentage at .558 and sits in third place among the Sun Belt. Doucet has 27 blocks on the season. Williams is shooting .441 from the floor, .314 from three and has dished out 67 assists on the year. 

The Ragin' Cajuns have the 10th ranked offense in the conference, scoring 62.0 points per game, allow 70.6 points per game to their opponents, and shoot an 8th best .396 from the floor. Louisiana ranks 11th in three-point shooting at .305 and allows opposing offenses to shoot .444 from the floor. 

Doucet was the lone Ragin' Cajuns player to score in double figures when the two clubs met on Jan. 24. Doucet led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting and added six rebounds. Andrea Cournoyer put up nine points for Louisiana and added two assists as the Ragin' Cajuns shot .338 from the floor and .267 from three in the game. 

THEY SAID IT 
HEAD COACH TERRY FOWLER
On Louisiana: "Louisiana is athletic on the perimeter and in the post area. Doucet is one of the best post players in our league; she's a double-double machine. They present a lot of different problems with their ball screen motion and their dribble and weave action, they really attack the basket. They have some kids that can knock down open shots. So main thing is we have to make sure we can keep them out of the paint, and not give their shooters open looks. Also have to do a good job on the boards, they do that really well too." 

On preparing for the start of postseason play Monday: "It's a situation where you have a quick turnaround, fortunately we are at home so we don't have to travel. Let's just make sure we get our bodies rested up, get our preparation for Louisiana done and be ready to go for 40 minutes on Monday night to earn a trip over to New Orleans."

NEXT GAME
The winner of No. 7 South Alabama vs. No. 10 Louisiana will head to the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans to take on the 6 seeded Texas State Bobcats in Round 2 of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. 

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—