Game 1 | November 25, 2020 | Noon (CST) | Mobile, Ala. | Mitchell Center

South Alabama (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Rankings: — AP | — Coaches | — RPI

Head Coach: Terry Fowler (Lane [Tenn.] '86)
Record at USA (season): 101-119 (8th)
Career Record (season): 308-297 (21st)
Record vs. Mobile: 2-0

Returning Statistical Leaders
Pts: Savannah Jones (13.9)
Rebs: Antoinette Lewis (10.1)
Asts: Savannah Jones (49)
Blks: Antoinette Lewis (61)
Stls: Antoinette Lewis (44)

Mobile (3-0, 0-0 Southern States Athletic)
Rankings: — AP | — Coaches | — RPI

Head Coach: Erika Stukman (Florida A&M '13)
Record at Mobile (years): 34-29 (3)
Career Record (years): same
Record vs. USA: 0-1

Statistical Leaders
Pts: Lauren Bodino/Marquise Cobbs (13.3)
Rebs: Artasia McDowell (11.0)
Asts: Nautika Philpot (29)
Blks: Marquise Cobbs/Kelsey Pinera (1)
Stls: Nautika Philpot (5)

Multimedia
Television/Video: ESPN+
J.D. Byars (pxp) and Pat Greenwood (analysis)
Radio: 97.1 FM The Prowl
Charles Harrison (pxp)
Live Video: https://es.pn/2KCMNyd
Live Stats: http://statb.us/b/317359
Twitter: @WeAreSouth_WBB

Series History
Overall: USA leads 7-0
At the Mitchell Center: USA leads 6-0
At Pharr Gymnasium: n/a
Neutral: USA leads 1-0
Longest USA Streak: 7 (1988-19)
Longest Mobile Streak: n/a
Series Streak: USA — 7 (1988-19)
First Meeting: USA, 91-64, on 12/10/88 (USA)
Last Meeting: USA, 103-59, on 11/26/19 (USA)

Opening Tip
• The Jaguars open the 2020-21 season against the Rams on Wednesday afternoon.
• This is the latest South will begin the regular season since starting the 1994-95 campaign at UAB on Nov. 28.
• USA hasn't made its first appearance at home this late on the calendar since waiting until Dec. 15 to play host to Oregon State during the 2004-05 season.
• It's the first of four straight games at the Mitchell Center for the Jags the opening two weeks of the year.
• Dating back to February 1990, the Jaguars have won 27 straight outings against non-NCAA Division I opponents.

South Starting The Season
• South Alabama is 23-23 all-time in season openers.
• The Jags are 36-10 in their home debuts, highlighted by a 16-5 mark at the Mitchell Center.
• This marks the fourth year in a row that the Jaguars will begin their season at home.
• USA has won two of its last three season openers.
• The last three times South has started the year at home with a non-Division I foe — against Spring Hill in 2015-16 and '18-19, and Georgia Southwestern in '17-18 — they have won by 15 points or more.

Winning Ways
South claimed its final three outings of 2020 to finish last season with a 16-16 overall mark, making it the third year in a row that the Jaguars finished .500 or better.  Should USA accomplish the feat again this winter, it would be the first occasion that it has recorded a mark at or above .500 four straight seasons since the Jags did it eight consecutive years from 1982-83 through 1989-90 under the direction of Charlie Branum.

Looking To Continue Last Season's Success
Senior Antoinette Lewis enters the year with a streak of six straight games scoring in double figures dating back to the Jags' Feb. 22 match-up with Little Rock last winter, and in three of the last four contests during that stretch she has finished with a double-double.  The Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, Lewis is aiming to become the first individual at South to be named first-team all-league at the end of the season on multiple occasions since Tamara Carter turned the trick following the 1995-96 and '96-97 campaigns.

Eyes On A Bigger Prize
Already the school's all-time leader with 247 three-point field goals coming into the season, Savannah Jones is on pace to take over the top spot in the category in the Sun Belt's record books as well.  The redshirt senior, who has connected on at least 70 treys each of the last three years, stands one shy of moving into the top five on the league's list while she needs 45 to match the total recorded by Toshua Levitt of Texas State from 2015-19.

Mobile Series Notes
• South has claimed all seven meetings with the Rams, with six of those contests decided by a double-digit margin.
• All but one of those games have been played on USA's campus, a Dec. 17, 1998, meeting in the Port City Classic hosted by Spring Hill.
• Last year's match-up with Mobile was the first meeting between the two programs in five seasons.
• This will be the first time the two teams have played in consecutive seasons since the first two match-ups in the series played during the 1988-89 and '89-90 campaigns.
• The Jags have averaged more than 88 points per outing against Mobile, with last year's figure their highest in the series.

Notes From Last Year's Mobile Win
• The Jags posted 50-plus points in each half to score over 100 for the only time during the 2019-20 campaign.
• It was the best shooting percentage recorded by the Jags all last season.
• South also finished with a season-best rebounding total in the contest.
• Lewis tied a Mitchell Center record for field goals by an individual while setting a new career high in scoring.
• Jones became the school's all-time leader in three-point field goals with her performance.
• Devyn Lowe's assist total matched the most by an individual in the history of the Mitchell Center as well.
• Both Jaylen Mallard (points) and Casey Ferguson (rebounds) set career-high totals that still stand as this season gets underway.

Notes From The 2019-20 Finale
• The Jaguars defeated UTA on its home floor to advance to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which was cancelled while the team was travelling from Arlington to New Orleans.
• It was South's third straight victory, tying its longest streak of the season.
• Shaforia Kines posted 20-plus points for the second straight outing as she ended her career as a Jag by recording a double-digit scoring total in each of her last 12 outings.
• Lewis had her 16th double-double of the year, matching the number of times she turned the trick her first two seasons at South combined.
• Despite being charged with four more turnovers than the Lady Mavericks, USA was able to finish with an 18-13 edge in points off turnovers.

Photo provided by bradpuckettphotography.com

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 the 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—