Box Score - Georgia Southern 57, South Alabama 43 (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team got off to a hot start, leading by as much as 13, but Georgia Southern outscored the Jaguars 20-6 in the third quarter Thursday night at Hanner Fieldhouse en route to picking up a 57-43 Sun Belt Conference victory.  

South Alabama (4-8, 0-3 SBC) scored 20 points and shot 50 percent from the floor during the first quarter, but over the final three periods, the Jags were held to just 23 points and connected on just eight of their final 43 shot attempts, including 3-of-25 from the three-point line during that time.  

"Georgia Southern went to a zone on us (after the first quarter)," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "We had done a great job against their man defense.  We were making the same threes in our man offense that we couldn't make when they went zone.  I just thought we got stagnant in our offensive sets and just passed the ball around the perimeter so much.  We never got the ball in attack mode or played inside out.  That was a discouraging part of the game to me."

USA finished the game shooting 26.3 percent from the field on 15-of-57 from the field and 7-of-31 from the arc.  

The Jaguars will now travel to Georgia State to take on the Panthers on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT) at the GSU Sports Arena.  The game will be aired on ESPN 3 and live stats and web streaming – both video and audio – for the contest can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.  Fans can also keep up with in-match updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.

Erin Autio came off the bench to lead the club offensively as she was the lone Jag in double figures, ending the night with 13 points.  Genesis Perrymond chipped in with nine, all in the first half, and Colby Davis added seven points and seven rebounds.  

With the win, Georgia Southern snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 4-8 on the year and 1-2 in league play.  Angel McGowan led all scorers with 26 points and a career-high seven steals to go along with six rebounds.  McGowan was 8-for-13 from the field, including 5-of-6 from beyond the three-point line.  She also converted five of her seven attempts at the charity stripe in her 34 minutes of action.

Also finishing the contest in double digits for the Eagles was Patrice Butler who had 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting and a game-high eight boards.  

South Alabama opened the game strong at both ends of the floor, scoring the first seven points of the contest and holding Georgia Southern scoreless for the first four-and-a-half minutes.  GSU was 0-for-5 from the floor and USA's Chyna Ellis recorded two blocks during that stretch.

The Jaguars later extended their lead out to double digits (14-4) after Perrymond's second three of the game and a pair of free throws from Jennifer Towne with two minutes to go in the opening quarter,

USA continued its hot shooting and later stretched its advantage to 13 (20-7) after a banked-in trey by Autio – her second of the game – in the closing seconds of the period.  

The Jags knocked down 50 percent of their shot attempts during the first 10 minutes of action, including 4-of-6 from long range.  South Alabama's defense also held GSU to just 2-of-12 shooting from the floor in the first quarter.

Both teams struggled to get things going for the first five minutes of the second quarter as they went scoreless and combined to miss their first 15 shot attempts.

McGowan, the Eagles' leading scorer coming into the contest, finally broke the ice as she completed an and-one play at the 4:58 mark.  USA would answer on the ensuing possession with Perrymond's third three of the afternoon, but Georgia Southern would continue to ride McGowan.  Along with her three-point play, McGowan would go on to add six more points during GSU's 15-5 run over the remainder of the quarter.  McGowan narrowed the Jaguar lead to 25-22 with a three-pointer of her own, this on coming from the left wing with less than a minute to go before the half.

Georgia Southern was 5-for-15 in the second quarter, but connected on five of its last nine shot attempts to close the half.  South Alabama struggled offensively in the period, scoring just five points and hitting just two of its 17 shot attempts.  The Jaguars were also 1-of-10 from beyond the three-point line in the period and turned the ball over five times.

South Alabama turned the ball over on each of its first three possessions to start the second half and GSU took advantage.  McGowan continued her hot shooting and scored GSU's first eight points of the quarter and gave the Eagles their first lead of the night after draining back-to-back treys a minute-and-a-half into the third.

Davis knocked down a jumper at the 5:32 mark to trim the deficit to one (32-31), but that would be USA's last points for the remainder of the period as the Jags missed their last nine shots and turned the ball over twice.

The Eagles would take advantage of South Alabama's offensive woes and end the quarter on a 10-0 run.  Alexis Sams, who had nine points, knocked down GSU's fourth trey of the period and eighth of the game with three seconds remaining in the quarter.  Sams' basket capped off the scoring and give the Eagles a 42-31 lead after three quarters of play.

GSU was eight for 12 from the field during the pivotal third quarter and forced USA into seven turnovers, turning those miscues into 12 points.  McGowan carded 11 of her 26 points during the frame.

Georgia Southern would give USA a chance to get back into the game, recording just one point over the first five minutes of the final period of play.  South Alabama was unable to take advantage as the Jaguars managed to score just three points during that time.

McGowan again had the answer for the Eagles as with four minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the contest, she knocked down her fifth trey of the night, this one coming from the top of the key.  McGowan's bucket was GSU's first field goal of the quarter and increased the home team 46-34.

From there, South Alabama would get no closer as Georgia Southern went on to take the 14-point victory.  

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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