USA TOPS SOUTHERN 55-48 AT HOME
MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team (4-4) defeated Southern (2-4) 55-48 in the second of a four-game homestand on Monday night at the Mitchell Center. After trailing by seven points midway through the third quarter, South Alabama outscored Southern 32-15 in the last 15 minutes of the game.

"It was great to come back home to the Mitchell Center and get a win," said head coach Terry Fowler. "Hopefully we can take this and move on to the next two ballgames in the Mitchell Center. It just feels great to win tonight. I think the difference was in the second half, we didn't turn the ball over. We had four turnovers in the second half versus 11 in the first half. I think that was a big difference, and that we shot the ball a lot better. Defensively can't be more pleased with our group. We've been doing a good job on that end of the floor all year long. I hope this game can spearhead us to more scoring opportunities on the offensive end."

South Alabama's offense sputtered through the first half of the third quarter, and Southern capitalized to go on an 8-1 run for its second lead of the game after trailing almost 16 minutes of the first half. South Alabama missed all four field goal attempts and turned the ball over twice in the five minute span to allow Southern to lead 30-23.

South Alabama ended the third quarter on an 11-2 run. Chyna Ellis had back-to-back baskets with a layup and a jumper in the paint to cut the deficit to three. After Southern's Miaya Crowder made a jumper with 3:23 remaining in the quarter, Savannah Jones responded with a jumper of her own. Candice Williams then made her only shot of the game on the next possession, and LaNeetra Guillory gave South Alabama the lead for good on a three-point play after getting fouled on a made layup in the last possession of the quarter for South Alabama.

Jones hit a jumper and made a layup to start the fourth quarter for South Alabama. India Hall made a layup on a pass by Genesis Perrymond with 7:52 left in the game to give South Alabama a 40-36 lead. Perrymond then got a fast break layup after picking off a pass near mid court to force a Southern timeout.

Ellis then made two-straight layups, and South Alabama had its biggest lead of the game, 49-40 with a little over three minutes left. Southern made it a one-possession game with a quick 6-0 run by Skylar O'Bear on a three-pointer and three free throws after getting fouled on a three-point shot with 2:47 remaining. South Alabama's defense stopped Southern from scoring until allowing a layup with just one second left in the game. Perrymond and Colby Davis both hit a pair of free throws in the last 24 seconds of the game to secure the victory.

"I thought that once we got stops, we got a rhythm going and I have to tip my hat to Savannah Jones she really got us going with some great scoring opportunities," said Fowler. "We were able to settle down. Chyna took her time and had great composure. I think we passed the ball really well tonight and shared it. There multiple possessions where the ball touched all five players before we were able to score with easy baskets. We just have to build off this and be ready to play here Thursday."

South Alabama got off to a good start shooting the ball in the first quarter, shooting 66.7% (6-9) from the field and 75% (3-4) from behind the three-point line. Perrymond hit consecutive three-pointers on passes by Williams that gave South Alabama the lead just over a minute and half into the quarter. After a layup by Guillory, Perrymond added another two points on a fast break layup just over halfway through the quarter for a 10-2 advantage. Southern then went on its own run, scoring the next seven points.
Both teams struggled on offense in the second quarter with Southern outscoring South Alabama 9-6. After Davis hit one of two free throw attempts with 7:14 left in the first half, South Alabama didn't score the rest of the quarter while Southern managed to get three points to tie the game up at 22-22. Chyna Ellis appeared to make a buzzer-beating layup to end the quarter, but it was waved off after an officials' review.

South Alabama had three double-digit scorers: Ellis (13 points), Perrymond (13) and Jones (12). Ellis had a game-high three blocks and tied for a game-high nine rebounds. Perrymond dished out a game-high four assists and also had three steals and three rebounds. Jones was the only South Alabama scorer to shoot above 50% with more than one field goal attempt, going 5-9 (55.6%) from the field and 2-5 (40%) from three in addition to four rebounds and a steal.

Kennedi Centers grabbed five rebounds and had three assists and a block in 17 minutes off the bench. Erin Autio and India Hall both made their only field goal attempt.

South Alabama finished with the advantage in assists (13-8), blocks (7-3) and steals (10-3). South Alabama also outscored Southern in the paint (26-20) and in bench points (16-4).

South Alabama returns to action at home on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. game against William Carey.

Late Surge Not Enough to Lift Eagles on the Road Against Charleston Southern
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Down by as many as 15 with just over nine minutes left in the game, the Georgia Southern women's basketball team mounted a furious comeback in the closing minutes against Charleston Southern. Senior guard Angel McGowan scored 10 points in the final minute, including draining a pair of heavily contested three-pointers, but the Eagles came up just one point short on the road as the Buccaneers held on to win 55-54 inside the Buccaneer Dome Monday night.

The Eagles (3-6), playing their final road game of 2016, were hampered by a 1-for-21 (4.8%) streak from the field during the second and third quarters. For the game, GS hit on just 14 of their 51 attempts (27.5%) compared to a 45.5% (20-44) effort by CSU (5-2).

The Eagles were led by McGowan's 22 points and Patrice Butler's 14. McGowan accounted for five of the Eagles' eight three-pointers in 28 minutes of work while Butler contributed two to go along with an 8-for-10 effort at the free throw line. Sister Sierra Butler was just two points shy of a double-double effort as the junior forward corralled in a game-high 10 rebounds and scored eight points.

Three Buccaneers scored in double figures, led by redshirt senior Alyssa Mann's 20 points. The fifth-year guard hit three treys, went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe and tallied six assists in 36 minutes of work while Ke'Asia Jackson added 15 points and Elyse Kiploks chipped in 10.

THE STORY
Georgia Southern controlled much of the early going of the first quarter, easing out to a four-point lead, but the Bucs clawed back into the game and retook the lead for good with 8:58 remaining in the second quarter.

The second and third quarters saw GS go cold from the field, but the Eagles were able to stay in the game off 13 made free throws during the same stretch. The fourth quarter saw GS fall behind by as many as 15 in the fourth, but the Eagles mounted a furious comeback attempt late in the game and kept the Bucs from getting comfortable.

With 4:29 left in regulation, McGowan converted a three-pointer to pull the Eagles to within two (46-44), but Mann was able to convert on a couple free throws to keep Georgia Southern from retaking the lead late.

QUOTE FROM COACH KIP DROWN
"We had that really bad drought there in the second and third quarters. We only had one field goal for two quarters and missed a lot of shots. But we played very hard there at the end and made some big plays, but also made a couple mental mistakes at the end there that cost us. It's just a lot of little things and sometimes players just don't understand that. So much of basketball is doing the little things right, but we'll head home and get back to work on fixing things."

NEXT UP
Georgia Southern returns home Saturday to begin a stretch of five home games in a row, the longest homestand of the year. The Eagles have two more non-conference games before opening the Sun Belt Conference portion of the 2016-17 campaign. GS first welcomes the Knights of UCF on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m.

Coastal Falls to Saint Francis, 70-59
CONWAY - The Coastal Carolina women's basketball team suffered its second straight loss Monday night as the Chanticleers fell, 70-59, to Saint Francis at the HTC Center.

Coastal (3-5) was limited to shooting 29.2 percent from the field for the game, while Saint Francis (3-4) shot 42.6 percent and had a pair of players lead the game in scoring.

Maya Wynn recorded a game high of 18 points on 7-of-12 from the floor with four 3-pointers. Jessica Kovatch followed with 17 points, and Ace Harrison tallied 16 points to tie Rachael Gregory, who finished as the leading scorer for the Chants. Harrison also led all players with 17 rebounds to complete the double-double.

Kennedy Archer provided 13 points for the Chants to mark her fifth straight game scoring in double figures, and Alexis Robinson led the home side with 13 rebounds, a season high for the senior.

After five lead changes in the game's opening minutes Coastal went cold from the floor, closing the final six minutes of the first quarter without a field goal. The Chants then suffered a seven-minute scoring drought in the second quarter, and Saint Francis outscored Coastal 19-5 in the frame to take a 44-19 lead into halftime.

The Red Flash enjoyed a 20-point cushion for the majority of the second half, with Coastal not breaking that threshold until the 3:29 mark of the fourth quarter. The Chants nearly brought the scoring margin to single digits as the game wound down, at one point scoring six straight points during a 25 second span.

The final quarter was the strongest of the game for Coastal as the Chants scored 27 points while shooting 41.7 percent from the floor.

Coastal returns to the court Friday evening when the Chants take on South Carolina State at 6 p.m. at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.