Game 31 | March 10, 2020 | 8:30 p.m. (CDT) | Arlington, Texas | College Park Center

South Alabama (14-16, 9-9 Sun Belt)
Rankings: — AP | — Coaches | 238 RPI

Head Coach: Terry Fowler (Lane [Tenn.] '86)
Record at USA (season): 99-119 (7th)
Career Record (season): 306-297 (20th)
Record vs. A-State: 2-11

Statistical Leaders
Pts: Shaforia Kines (15.4)
Rebs: Antoinette Lewis (10.0)
Asts: Shaforia Kines (84)
Blks: Antoinette Lewis (60)
Stls: Antoinette Lewis (41)

Arkansas State (11-18, 8-10 Sun Belt)
Rankings: — AP | — Coaches | 244 RPI

Head Coach:  Matt Daniel (Harding '98)
Record at A-State (season): 11-18 (1st)
Career Record (season): 154-153 (10th)
Record vs. USA: 1-1

Statistical Leaders
Pts: Jireh Washington (13.1)
Rebs: Morgan Wallace (8.2)
Asts: Jireh Washington (110)
Blks: Payton Tennison (18)
Stls: Morgan Wallace (54)

Multimedia
Television/Video: ESPN+
Josh Sours (pxp) and Robert Gill (analysis)
Radio: Sports Talk 99.5
Steve Goldberg (pxp)
Live Video: https://sunbelt.me/2Iv09bu
Live Stats: https://sunbelt.me/330lHpH
Twitter: @WeAreSouth_WBB

Series History
Overall: A-State leads 40-12
In Mobile: A-State leads 18-9
In Jonesboro: A-State leads 19-2
Neutral: A-State leads 3-1
Longest USA Streak: 3 (2001-03 and 2012)
Longest A-State Streak: 11 (1997-01)
Current Series Streak: A-State — 1 (2020)
First Meeting: ASU, 106-64, on 1/30/92 (Jonesboro)
Last Meeting: ASU, 86-80, on 3/5/20 (Jonesboro)

Opening Tip
• The Jaguars open play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Tuesday night with their third match-up against Arkansas State in the last two-and-a-half weeks.
• South advanced to the championship game of last year's event for the first time since 1989.
• It was the program's fourth all-time appearance in the title contest.
• This will be the Jags' seventh meeting with A-State at the Sun Belt Tournament; the only school USA has faced more frequently at the event is Western Kentucky, having played the Hilltoppers on 11 occasions.
• The Red Wolves have claimed four of the six previous match-ups at the SBC Championship, including three of four contested at neutral sites.

South vs. A-State At The Sun Belt Tourney
Here's a complete list of the six previous meetings between the two programs at the Sun Belt Championship:
• W, 62-38 in Hot Springs, Ark. (3/3/12) — 1st
• L, 52-53 in Mobile (3/8/08) — QF
• L, 53-61 in Denton, Texas (3/6/05) — QF
• W, 59-54 in Mobile (3/1/01) — 1st
• L, 59-78 in Ruston, La. (3/5/98) — QF
• L, 51-70 in Bowling Green, Ky. (3/5/97) — QF

SBC Tournament Results Under Fowler
The Jaguars have a 6-4 record under head coach Terry Fowler at the SBC Tournament, with last year's four victories at the event equaling the number recorded by South the previous eight years combined.  It was also the first time the Jags have won multiple conference tournament contests since the 2009 edition of the event.  Here's a complete list of South's Sun Belt tourney scores during Fowler's tenure, with every contest with the exception of last year's first-round defeat of Louisiana at the Mitchell Center played in New Orleans:
2019
• L, 56-57 vs. Little Rock
• W, 57-50 vs. UTA
• W, 87-74 (ot) vs. Troy
• W, 68-67 vs. Texas State
• W, 73-61 vs. Louisiana
2018
• W, 80-54 vs. ULM
• L, 79-82 vs. Troy
2017
• W, 49-44 vs. Georgia State
• L, 53-65 vs. UTA
2016
• L, 49-62 vs. Troy

Kines Shines In Final Season
Entering postseason play, senior guard Shaforia Kines leads the Jaguars in scoring and assists and is among the top 15 in the Sun Belt in six different statistical categories; for those efforts, she was named first-team all-conference on Monday.  She paces South with 25 games scoring 10-plus points — including nine outings with 20 or more — and is one of only two players on the team to record a double-double, posting two with both coming in league action.  Kines has led the Jags in scoring 14 times and assists on 14 occasions, both the most on the roster, while she also has recorded the most steals on the team in seven games.

Lewis Honors Again By Sun Belt
One of two individuals in the league to average a double-double during the regular season, Antoinette Lewis was a second-team all-Sun Belt selection this year.  Chosen the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 19, the junior leads South in rebounding, blocks and steals, and is third in scoring while ranking second in the conference and among the top 35 nationally in rebounding, offensive rebounds per game and blocks.  The center paces the league and is 25th nationally with 14 double-doubles having recorded a double-figure rebounding total on 19 occasions.  It's the second year in a row that Lewis has been voted all-SBC after earning first-team accolades in 2018-19.

Jones A Repeat All-SBC Selection Too
Redshirt junior Savannah Jones was voted third-team all-league after pacing both the Jags and the Sun Belt in three-point field goals per game and three-point field-goal percentage during the regular season; she is also among the top 65 in the country in both categories as well this year.  The guard — who was a second-team all-conference choice a year ago — stands second in scoring, and is third in assists and blocked shots on the team as well as having scored in double figures in 22 games highlighted by seven contests posting 20 or more points.

South's Sun Belt Honors Notes
It's the second year in a row that multiple Jaguars have received all-Sun Belt recognition, marking the first time that USA has had two or more players honored in consecutive seasons since the 1987-88 (Adrian Vickers and Ella Williams, first-team) and '88-89 (Vickers first-team, Williams second-team) campaigns.  It also is the first time that at least one Jaguar has been named first-team all-league in three straight seasons since the trio of Lyletha Gamble, Taneisha Russell and Whitney Woodard were honored in 2001-02, '02-03 and '03-04.  South was one of three schools to have three individuals pick up all-conference accolades this season as well, joining Coastal Carolina and Troy.

Lewis Leads Jags In Little Rock Win
In the last game of the regular season, Lewis recorded her fourth consecutive outing with 10-plus points after sharing game-high honors with 16, the first time she has led the team in the category since scoring 18 in a Feb. 8 victory at ULM — in fact, it was the fifth straight game that a different member of the Jaguars' starting lineup paced the team in scoring.  She made 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) of her shots from the floor in last week's two contests, and also topped the squad in rebounding on both occasions after posting a game-best nine against Little Rock.

Kines Keeps It Going
Kines chipped in with 13 points against the Trojans, the 10th straight game that she has scored in double figures as well as the 25th occasion she has posted a double-digit point total this season.  Since the start of February, Kines is averaging 17.1 points per contest and has shot 43.8 percent (32-of-73) from beyond the arc while making 3.2 threes per outing, leading the team in scoring five times during that stretch.

Hitting The Boards Hard
Jones was one rebound shy of matching a season high after pulling down eight in the win over the Trojans, giving her 14 rebounds over the last two contests.  That's the most she has grabbed in a two-game stretch since the first two outings of February, when she collected 16 in match-ups with Troy (Feb. 1) and Louisiana (Feb. 6).

Senior Making Significant Impact
Since being inserted into the starting lineup prior to USA's Feb. 6 defeat of Louisiana, Kennedi Centers has posted averages of 8.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest while adding 21 assists, 14 steals and 12 blocked shots over that nine-game stretch.  The center has corralled seven or more boards in each of the team's last five outings, handing out four-plus assists in three of those contests.

Better Starts To End The Season
Slow starts were an issue for the Jags earlier in the 2019-20 season, but over the last six games coming into postseason play South has scored 20 or more points in the opening quarter five times and has not trailed at the end of the first 10 minutes during that span.  The Jaguars are 10-3 this year when ahead at the half, including winning seven of nine contests in league action when taking a lead to the locker room.

Additional Notes From The Little Rock Game
• The Jaguars snapped a season-high three-game losing streak.
• USA also ended Little Rock's 11-game series win streak with its first defeat of the Trojans since Feb. 1, 2014.
• It was the Jags' first victory in Little Rock since Feb. 5, 2005.
• It also marked the first time that South has won scoring fewer than 60 points since defeating UTA 57-50 on March 15 in the semifinals of last year's Sun Belt Tournament.
• Little Rock shot 56.9 percent from the floor in the first match-up between the two programs — the best mark against USA this season — but its 20.4-percent rate in the contest was the lowest allowed by the Jaguars during the 2019-20 regular season.
• Lewis paced the Jags in blocks for the 50th time in her career after totalling a game-high three.
• Jayla Morrow made her first start of the year, scoring a season-best eight points to go along with three assists.

Notes From The Last Arkansas State Meeting
• It was the first time USA has lost when scoring 80 or more points since dropping an 84-82 overtime decision at Lamar on Jan. 11, 1996; the last occasion that happened in regulation prior to the contest came when New Orleans defeated the Jags 93-89 on Feb. 9, 1995.
• The 32 points A-State scored over the final 10 minutes were the most South has allowed in the fourth period since the NCAA instituted the quarter system prior to the start of the 2015-16 campaign.
• Jones recorded her first 20-point game since South defeated Louisiana on Feb. 6 after scoring 16 points in the previous two contests combined.
• It was Lewis's first double-double since the Jaguars' Feb. 15 visit to Coastal Carolina.
• Freshman Jaylen Mallard made the first start of her career and posted her highest total on the boards since the Feb. 6 game against the Ragin' Cajuns.

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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—USA—