MOBILE, Ala. – Antoinette Lewis scored a game-high 23 points to lead an effort that saw the University of South Alabama women's basketball team shoot nearly 58 percent from the field in recording a 74-66 non-conference victory over Nicholls Saturday at the Mitchell Center.

Lewis shot 9-of-12 from the floor and made all five attempts from the free-throw line, adding eight rebounds and four blocks to help the Jaguars improve to 2-1 on the season.  Mahogany Vaught supplied 14 points and seven rebounds while Jadona Davis scored 11 on 5-of-6 shooting for South as well.

Terris McKay countered with 21 points for the Colonels (1-2), who also got 15 points from Chyna Allen and 12 off the bench from Anna McKendree.

South Alabama 74, Nicholls 66 (box score)

GAME FACTS
-The Jags scored six of the last eight points of the first period, taking a 24-20 lead after shooting 83.3 percent (10-of-12) in the quarter.
-The advantage grew to 12 when South recorded the first six points of the second period, with the Jaguars ahead 46-40 at the break.
-A Casey Ferguson three in the final seconds capped a 7-2 spurt by USA to close out third quarter with a 65-57 lead.
-South was ahead by as many as 14 points in the fourth period after holding the Colonels without a field goal until less than three minutes were left in the contest.
-The Jaguars scored 40 points in the paint while attempting a season-low 16 three-point field-goal attempts.
-USA held the Colonels to 27.6 percent shooting after the break and a 43.9 mark for the game.

NOTES
-The Jaguars snapped Nicholls' two-game win streak in the series with their first victory over the Colonels since Dec. 5, 2009.
-South made more than half its shots from the field for the first time since a Feb. 20 win over Arkansas State last year.
-It was a season-best point total for Lewis, who now has recorded nine straight games scoring in double figures.
-This was the first occasion since defeating A-State in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference on March 10 that the senior has posted 20 or more points.
-She also led the Jags in rebounding for the second time in as many contests and has paced the squad in blocks in all three outings in 2020-21.
-It's the first occasion in her career that Vaught has finished with 10 or more points in back-to-back outings.
-The junior guard added a personal best in rebounds as well, surpassing by one the total she corralled in a victory at Tennessee State on Nov. 26, 2018.
-Davis finished with a career-high point total — her previous best of nine came against Southern California on Dec. 19, 2017, when she was a member of Middle Tennessee's program — while scoring in double digits for the first time at the collegiate level.
-Devyn Lowe was credited with a career-high six assists, the most handed out by a Jaguar this year.
-Jaylen Mallard has now pulled down five or more rebounds in three straight contests for the first time since joining the program at the start of the 2019-20 season after finishing the night with six.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
On the key to the game offensively: "Coming into the game, knew we had a size advantage on the inside.  We just wanted to try to pound it inside and got off to a great start early, and I thought we continued that in the third quarter just throwing it in to Antoinette and then it was Jadona's turn.  We spaced them out and when they tried to use some double teams we found some open shooters, but we just played inside most of the night."
On the team's fourth-quarter defense: "We just started switching everywhere one through four, that slowed them down and kept them in front of us.  They were penetrating on layups so I thought that was a key adjustment."
On Mahogany Vaught's performance: "I thought in the first half she didn't have any energy.  We talked about it, if we were going to have success tonight she was going to have to pick it up and she answered the bell.  She really continues to improve and has become just a consistent player day in and day out."

Senior F/C Antoinette Lewis
On her performance on the offensive end: "Our coaches told us to play the high side a lot and to get the ball into the paint, and once it is in there it is just a make or miss opportunity."
On the key to taking control in the second half: "We told ourselves that we were not playing our best basketball, so we had to step it up and control what we could control, which was lowering our turnovers, making shots and getting stops when it was time to get them.  Overall, we did a better job in the second half."
On the team's improved defense in the final quarter: "[Assistant] Coach [Mansa] El told us that we did not have many 'kills' which for us is three stops in a row, so we focused on that and tried to get those."

Up next: USA plays host to William Carey Tuesday at noon (CST) in the last of four games in a row at the Mitchell Center to begin 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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