MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team built a double-digit lead within the opening three minutes of Thursday's matchup with Arkansas State, and led by Damaya Telemaque's game-high 20 points would go on to pick up an 87-71 Sun Belt Conference victory over the Red Wolves at the Mitchell Center.

Telemaque paced four players in double figures for the Jaguars (13-13, 8-6 Sun Belt), finishing the afternoon 7-of-9 from the field — highlighted by making all four attempts from beyond the three-point arc — while adding five rebounds and five assists.  Savannah Jones added 16 points, Shaforia Kines 13 and Kennedi Centers 12, and Antoinette Lewis pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots as well.

A-State (9-16, 6-8 SBC) also had four players score 10-plus points, led by 15 apiece from Morgan Wallace and Payton Tennison.  Jireh Washington recorded 12 points and five assists while Peyton Martin contributed 11.

South Alabama 87, Arkansas State 71 (box score)

GAME FACTS
-The Jaguars connected on their first four field goals to build a 12-2 lead in the opening three minutes and were ahead 25-16 at the end of the first quarter after shooting nearly 70 percent (9-of-13) in the period.
-South ended up sinking 8-of-16 attempts from beyond the arc in the opening half and led 45-29 at the break.
-USA used a 12-3 run early in the third period to extend the lead to 23 points before ending the quarter with a 70-53 advantage.
-The Jags hit 53.4 percent from the field for the game — they were actually over 60 percent entering the final 10 minutes — while limiting the Red Wolves below 38 percent shooting on the day.
-South held a 42-26 rebounding edge overall, including grabbing 35 of 44 boards recorded on its defensive end of the court.
-A-State forced 21 turnovers that resulted in 26 points on the other end of the floor, with the Red Wolves' 14 steals the most recorded against the Jaguars by a Sun Belt opponent this season.

NOTES
-The Jags ended the Red Wolves' three-game win streak in the series with their first victory over A-State since March 4, 2017.
-South finished the contest with 12 three-point field goals, marking the first time since Jan. 6-18, 2018, they have connected on 10 or more shots from beyond the arc in three straight outings.
-USA has now won all three contests this season when it has shot 50 percent or better from the floor; the last time the Jaguars accomplished the feat at home in Sun Belt play prior to defeating A-State came when they connected on 55.7 percent from the field in an 83-60 victory over Louisiana on Jan. 24 a year ago.
-It was the first time going back to a Feb. 6 win defeat of the Ragin' Cajuns that the Jags have outrebounded the opposition by a double-digit margin.
-Not only was it a season-high scoring total for Telemaque, it marked the first time since posting 21 points in a Nov. 17 win at Central Arkansas last season that she has recorded 20 or more points in a game.
-The sophomore guard has also led USA in assists in four of the last five contests, dishing out five or more on each of those occasions.
-Jones moved into 15th place on South's all-time scoring list with the effort, passing Kathy Bailey (1981-84) as she has now 1,240 points in her career.
-Kines has made multiple three-point field goals in four straight games, while her four assists were the most she has been credited with since finishing with six in a Jan. 18 victory at Georgia Southern.
-It was the fourth contest in a row that Lewis has finished with 10-plus rebounds as she went over 800 in her career with the effort.
-In addition to tying her previous career high in scoring, Centers was credited with a season-best four assists.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "We got off to a great start, and it was a total team effort.  If you look our shooting percentages — 53 percent from the field, 46 percent from 3 and 68 percent on free throws — we'll take that every day.  I thought we did a great job on the defensive end of the floor and were able to get some easy baskets from that."
On the team's start in the game: "It was huge.  We talked about it, how we have five games left and need to put our best foot forward.  This is a big week in our league where the teams will start to separate in the [conference] standings, and we want to take advantage of the opportunity especially with three straight games in the Mitchell Center."
On the crowd: "When our kids came out for the shoot around and the crowd was already there, that created a lot of energy.  We wanted to get our players out from the locker room early to feed off that energy.  It's rare that women's basketball has that kind of opportunity, so when it presents itself you have to take advantage of it."

Sophomore G Damaya Telemaque
On her play early in the game: "It started yesterday in practice, my teammates were amped up and everybody was ready to go.  We knew it was going to be a big game against Arkansas State, they're going to come out and compete, so we had to be ready to compete with them.  It was a total team effort, my teammates hyped me up and I was able to excel."
On her shooting performance against the Red Wolves: "It was being in the flow.  This is one of the games I will remember about this season.  We have four games to go in the regular season, and this one had a great feeling to build on."

Up next: South will take on Little Rock at 3 p.m. (CST) at the Mitchell Center on Saturday.

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

—USA—