CONWAY, S.C. – Savannah Jones recorded a double-double on Sunday to help the University of South Alabama rally in the fourth quarter for a 61-56 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory over Coastal Carolina at the HTC Center.

Jones finished with a game-high 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds, with Mahogany Vaught adding 11 points and Antoinette Lewis 10 and six boards as the Jaguars (11-7, 8-4 Sun Belt) claimed their second win in as many days.

Aja Blount led the Chanticleers (3-9, 0-8 SBC) with 19 points, while Tiarra Davis scored 12 and Janae Camp contributed a game-best 11 rebounds.

South Alabama 61, Coastal Carolina 56 (box score)

GAME FACTS
-Both teams shot less than 30 percent — including combining to go 0-of-7 from beyond the arc — in the first quarter as CCU led 8-6 at the end of the period.
-Vaught and Jones combined to score 16 of South's 21 first-half points as the Jaguars trailed by five at the break.
-The Jags went ahead 32-31 with just under six minutes to go in the third quarter, but CCU responded with an 8-1 run and were up 42-38 going to the final period.
-Jones opened the fourth quarter with a pair of three-pointers in a 37-second span to give the Jaguars the lead for good, as she would go on to post 13 points in the period.
-USA allowed the Chants to make one field goal in the first eight minutes of the quarter to pull away.
-CCU made 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from the floor over the final 10 minutes and shot just 35.6 percent in the contest.

NOTES
-With South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler taking care of family matters this weekend associate head coach Dan Presel was in charge of the team on the bench.
-Neither team had won more than two games in a row in the series entering the 2020-21 season, but the Jaguars swept all four contests between the two since the start of the new year and are now 8-4 all-time against the Chanticleers.
-South is 9-3 this year when recording a better shooting percentage than the opposition, including winning six of seven contests in league play when turning the trick.
-One day after scoring a season-high 32 first-quarter points the Jags recorded their lowest total in the opening period this year.
-Jones became the eighth individual in program history to score 1,400 points in a career after posting 20-plus points in back-to-back outings for the first time since Dec. 20 and Jan. 2 last season.
-It was her first double-double of the year and third of her career, while the redshirt senior was also credited with a career-high four steals and season-best two blocks.
-In addition to scoring 10-plus points for the team-leading 12th time this season, Vaught added a team-high five steals; not only was it her third outing with at least five this season, it marked the fourth time in as many games against CCU that she recorded at least four thefts.
-Jayla Morrow matched Vaught for game-high honors after handing out a season-best five assists.
-It was the first time in 46 appearances since joining the program last year that Jaylen Mallard was credited with multiple blocked shots in a game.
-Casey Ferguson tied a career high — first set in the Jags' season opener against Mobile and later matched on Dec. 8 in a victory over William Carey — with a pair of steals in 13 minutes off the bench.

THEY SAID IT
Associate head coach Dan Presel
On the team's improved offensive execution in the second half: "In the first half we did not share the ball, we weren't moving and we weren't getting to the spots that we needed to; that's what made us so successful yesterday.  Today we were more stationary and stagnant, we didn't have multiple people touching the ball each possession to get us going.  We did that in the second half, we showed more trust in each other and when an open player got the ball they did what they needed to do with it."
On the team's defensive performance in the fourth quarter: "We really just dug in, we contested their guards a lot more and got closer to them when they were shooting.  We were able to get the loose balls and make the 50-50 plays that we weren't getting enough of in the first three quarters.  We simply tightened up and showed that we really wanted the win, defensively we were a little better and that's usually the secret."
On Savannah Jones' play on Sunday: "Aside from her shooting numbers she had 10 rebounds and four steals, she just made big plays in the second half which is what you expect from your leaders.  She was really the calming presence for us, she got us settled down and over the hump when we faced adverse moments throughout the game.  Savannah has stayed the course, her ability to communicate with her teammates was tremendous.  She gave us confidence to able to right the ship in the second half and do what we needed to do to win the game.  I can't say enough great things about Savannah."

Up next: South is next in action when it concludes a three-game road swing Thursday at 6 p.m. (CST) at Troy.

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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