MOBILE, Ala. – Aja Blount scored a game-high 38 points and added eight rebounds on Saturday to lead Coastal Carolina to a 71-62 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over the University of South Alabama at the Mitchell Center.

Blount was 12-of-20 from the floor while she hit all 14 of her attempts at the free-throw line to help the Chanticleers improve to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.  Caitlin Roche added 15 points — going 4-of-6 from three-point range — and Naheria Hamilton supplied eight boards as well for CCU.

Shaforia Kines led the Jaguars (6-8, 1-1 SBC) with 21 points to go along with five rebounds, while Antoinette Lewis recorded 13 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots.  Savannah Jones scored 12 points while Kennedi Centers also contributed 11 and six boards.

Coastal Carolina 71, South Alabama 62 (box score)

GAME FACTS
-The Jaguars ended the opening period on an 8-2 to run take a 16-14 lead after the first 10 minutes.
-The Chanticleers shot 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the field in the second quarter to build a 34-28 advantage at the half.
-Blount scored 11 of CCU's 20 points in the third quarter as the Chants extended their advantage to 54-43 going into the final period.
-The Chanticleers shot 41.8 percent from the field while holding the Jags to a 34.2 percent mark.
-CCU also connected on eight three-pointers without allowing a trey until the final minutes of the last period.
-South outrebounded the Chanticleers by a 47-40 margin and had a 42-26 advantage scoring in the paint.

NOTES
-USA still leads the all-time series with the Chanticleers 4-3.
-Until Kines' three-pointer with 1:18 left in the contest, the Jags were in danger of not hitting a shot from beyond the arc for the first time since Feb. 3, 2000.
-South has now outrebounded the opposition in three of the last four contests.
-The Jaguars have dropped all five games this season when their opponent has shot 40 percent or better from the field.
-It's the first time that Kines — who had 24 points in the Jags' win over Appalachian State on Thursday — has scored 20 or more in back-to-back outings since accomplishing the feat in wins over Texas State and Troy on March 13 and 14 last year at the Sun Belt Tournament.
-It was Lewis' first double-double since the Jaguars defeated William Carey on Dec. 17, and her team-leading seventh of the season.
-The junior has also paced South in rebounding on 12 occasions this year, although it was the first time Lewis has done so since the WCU contest.
-Lewis recorded a season high in steals while moving into a tie for fifth place with Orphie Moore (1984-87) on the program's all-time blocks list as she now has 137 in her career.
-Jones is tied with Kines for the team lead with 11 games in double figures as she has scored 10 or more points in 10 of the last 11 games.
-Centers was one point shy of matching her career high after reaching double digits in the scoring column for the first time this season.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "Despite the great energy we had playing on Thursday night I thought we were flat today.  We were not only physically tired, but mentally drained to start the game and that made it difficult for us to really get going and sustain it.  Once we cut it to five in the third quarter I thought we had a chance, but they always had an answer when we made a run.  Aja Blount was unstoppable.  When they went to the four guard set with Aja in, it made it tough because all their kids can shoot it and the way she was playing it was hard to defend.  I never thought we would go 1-of-18 from the three-point line.  Although we were able to get 18 more shots than they did it wasn't enough tonight."
On moving forward: "We talked about it, that it's a long road to March so this is just the beginning.  We have to learn from this.  You want to win all your games at home but now we will go on the road and try to steal a game or two.  The main thing to take away is we have to put this game behind us and come focused Monday ready to improve and prepare for next week's ball games."

Senior G Shaforia Kines
On the Coastal Carolina defense: "Their defense was tough, they gave us some different looks.  They were able to get into our heads a little bit with their full court press.  Like Coach Fowler said, we didn't come out with the energy we needed tonight and that caused us to make things even more difficult on ourselves."
On what the team can learn from the game: "Just to come out each game and be ready to play, and that we can't take any game lightly.  We need to be better focused on the task at hand each game.  Everyone needs to be focused from the locker room onto the floor until the clock hits zeros in order to get the win."

Up next: The Jaguars will travel to Lafayette, La., to take on Louisiana Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) in their first Sun Belt road contest of the season.

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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