ATLANTA – Georgia State hit a pair of three-pointers in the opening minutes of the game and would never trail in earning a 60-45 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball win over the University of South Alabama at the Georgia State Sports Arena on Friday.

Moriah Taylor led the Panthers (12-10, 8-7 Sun Belt) with 11 points, while Kamryn Dziak and Taniyah Worth chipped in with 10 apiece.  Taylor Hosendove contributed nine points and nine rebounds as well for GSU.

Antoinette Lewis recorded a game-high 15 points for the Jaguars (12-11, 9-8 SBC), who also got 12 points from Devyn Lowe and nine from Mahogany Vaught.

Georgia State 60, South Alabama 45 (box score)

GAME FACTS
-GSU limited the Jaguars to 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) shooting to take a 16-7 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes.
-After shooting 50 percent from the floor in the opening half — including making 5-of-11 from three-point range — the Panthers were up 35-17 at the break.
-A 7-0 run after the midway point of the third period extended the GSU edge to 27 points before the Panthers ended the quarter with a 50-30 advantage.
-The Jags limited GSU to just 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from the field in the final quarter to close the gap, allowing just one basket over the final six-plus minutes.
-The Panthers connected on 40.9 percent from three-point range while holding the Jaguars to only 4-of-23 shooting from beyond the arc.
-GSU finished with a 24-9 edge in points from the bench.

NOTES
-This was the second of three meetings thus far this season between the two programs.
-The Panthers snapped South's five-game win streak in Atlanta with their first victory at home in the series since Feb. 19, 2015.
-It was the eighth time this season the Jaguars have been credited with 10 or more steals in a game — Vaught finished with four to lead all players while Jayla Morrow had three — although it was the first occasion they've accomplished the feat since a Feb. 7 win at Coastal Carolina.
-The Jags have now been charged with 20-plus turnover in three of the last five outings.
-It marked the second occasion in the last three contests that Lewis has paced all players in scoring as she recorded her 77th outing with 10 or more point in her career, tying the third-most in school history.
-The senior also matched her season-best block total with four while sharing team-high honors on the boards after grabbing six rebounds.
-Lowe scored in double figures for the second time in the last four games.
-She also fell one rebound shy of match her season-best total — recorded on Dec. 8 in a defeat of William Carey — after adding six, making it the first time she's shared team-high honors in the category since the WCU game.
-It was the fourth straight contest that Vaught has posted four or more steals while she has now led all players in the category 10 times in her career.
-Both Savannah Jones and Jaylen Mallard are not available for the Jags this weekend, which led to Jadona Davis making the first start of her career at the collegiate level.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
On the start of the game: "It was disappointing that we got off to a slow start, I thought we had open shots and they just didn't go in.  When you look at the stats in the first half they only had four more shots than we did, we needed to make a few more.  Maybe that would've given us some confidence and we could've made it a closer game."
On what the team can take from the final quarter into the rematch: "I thought the last six to seven minutes of the ball game we played with more energy, we were able to get some stops and had the chance to score off of them and play a little more in transition.  Hopefully we can take that into the game on Saturday, we need to play with more energy for 40 minutes instead of just the last 10."

Up next: USA will face the Panthers in the final game of the regular season Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST).

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—