SAN MARCOS, Texas — The University of South Alabama women's basketball team fell to the Texas State Bobcats, 45-77 on Saturday afternoon at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas. 

The Jaguars ended the second quarter on a 14-5 run to erase a 13-point Texas State lead that made it a four-point game heading into the half. Texas State came out with a renewed shot and quickly went on an 11-0 run in the third to build a lead. The Bobcats were fueled by Toshua Leavitt who notched 11 points in the quarter and shot 3-for-3 from behind the arc. All together, Texas State shot 5-of-7 from three in the quarter and outscored the Jags 23-8 to seal the win. 

Leavitt finished with a game-high 20 points and added five assists for Texas State. Leavitt shot 6-of-9 from the three-point line, and scored 17 of her 20 in the second half. 

Antoinette Lewis fouled out of the contest with five minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. Lewis posted 13 points and added 10 rebounds, the sophomore's ninth double-double of the season and second in as many games. 

The Jags move to 19-8 on the season and are now 8-8 in the Sun Belt. 

GAME FACTS
- South Alabama held Texas State to shooting 11-of-34 (.324) from the floor in the first half, but the Bobcats shot 17-of-28 (.607) and 9-of-12 (.750) from three in the second half. 
- Texas State denied the Jaguars three-point shot today, as South shot 1-of-24 from deep, and were held to shooting a season-low .311 for the game and 9-of-35 (.257) in the second half. 
- Alexis Sykes, making her first-career start for the Jaguars this season, connected on South Alabama's lone three of the day in the first quarter. Sykes played 23 minutes and finished with three points. 
- Texas State out-rebounded the Jaguars 43-33, with Jazza Johns leading the way for the Bobcats with 10 boards. Johns finished with eight points. The Jags are 7-7 this season when being beaten on the glass. 
- South Alabama got into foul trouble early with Lewis, Shaforia Kines, and Damaya Telemaque each finishing with four or more. Telemaque and Lewis fouled out in the fourth quarter for the Jaguars. 

NOTES
- South Alabama moves to 1-10 all-time vs. Texas State, with the Bobcats riding a four-game win streak against the Jaguars. This was the lone meeting between the two teams this season, and they will not meet again unless they face off in the conference tournament. 
- Jala Buster played a career-high 17 minutes for the Jaguars. Buster finished with six points and two rebounds. 
- Lewis was the lone Jags player in double figures. South Alabama is 7-21 during Coach Fowler's tenure when having just one player score 10 or more. 

THEY SAID IT
HEAD COACH TERRY FOWLER
Was the turning point of the game when Telemaque went to the bench in the third quarter with four fouls: "I don't know if that was the turning point but when she went out, Toshua Leavitt got hot. Damaya had done a good job of face-guarding her in the first half and then she started shooting from deep. They changed their pick-and-roll coverage, tried to do different things to give her different looks. She was able to still make shots when she got in the groove. Another thing, we couldn't make a shot, I mean we stayed at 35 forever. We shot 31 percent from the floor, and that's not great. 

On bouncing back in the second quarter: "Yeah, we felt really good. Going into the half down by four, we had chances at the start of the third quarter to get it to one. But, they hit a three-pointer and it went from there, we couldn't score. It's disappointing, we had everyone in foul trouble, and we had to play shorthanded. That's no excuse, we have to be better, our young kids have to get experience and we have to play through it and move on." 

On moving forward: "I thought Jala Buster played a great game today, hadn't played a lot for us. She gave us some great energy, she was part of that second quarter run that we had. She hadn't been out there, so it's hard for her to sustain it. Alexis Sykes started for us today, she hadn't played, been out for four weeks. To put her out there in the situation, we wanted to spread the floor and get some more shooting. I thought Antoinette Lewis did a great job down low today, just got in foul trouble." 

UP NEXT
South Alabama returns home for its final homestand of the 2019 regular season to take on Coastal Carolina. Tip-off vs. the Chanticleers is set for 7 p.m. at the Mitchell Center on Thursday, March 7.

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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