Allen's Free Throws Upend Cajuns In Final Seconds
ARLINGTON, Texas It was another thriller against Louisiana as Crystal Allen's two free throws with four seconds on the clocked helped the Lady Mavericks to a 63-61 win on Thursday night at College Park Center.

Allen drilled a 3-pointer with 32.7 seconds to go to put UTA up by one. Louisiana would only make 1-of-2 free throws at the other end, and Allen was fouled with four seconds to go, scoring the last five points to lift UTA. With the win, the Lady Mavs snapped a three- game skid to improve 9-9 overall and 3-4 in Sun Belt play. Louisiana had its four-game winning streak snapped and went to 9-9 as well, while it is 4-2 in league play.

Allen led the UTA scoring effort with 14 points off the bench, connecting on six at the line and dropping a pair of 3-pointers. Rebekah VanDijk posted her 11th double-figure effort of the season with 10, fouling out with four minutes to play. Daiane Machado had a career-high 11 rebounds and was one point shy of her first-career double-double with nine points.

The win also reversed four-quarter misfortune as UTA had dropped its previous nine games when trailing going to the fourth quarter.

The Lady Mavs close its stand on Saturday when it hosts ULM at 2 p.m. on ESPN3. UTA will head to the road next week for a trip to face Georgia State on Thursday and Georgia Southern on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter: A slow start was helped along by a 2-for-10 combined effort from both teams through the first four minutes of the game. A 3-pointer from the Ragin' Cajuns opened up a brief advantage, but UTA clawed back and jumped into the lead on Shelby Richards 3-pointer in the final minutes of the quarter. Both teams were under 27 percent shooting in the first frame.

Second Quarter:
UTA's offense improved in the second quarter with a duo of 3-pointers that began with Laurynn McGowen hitting from deep. Neither side could take care of the ball through the middle of the quarter, but Brooke Alexander ended the drought as her trey gave UTA its biggest lead of the game with under two minutes in the half. The Lady Mavs would take the same five-point advantage into the break as Louisiana missed on its final six shots.

Third Quarter: UTA would lead for the opening eight minutes of the quarter after a quick start saw the Lady Mavs open up a six-point advantage. However, several blows by Louisiana would send the Ragin' Cajuns into the final frame. A 9-0 run would start the effort, but UTA would survive the surge with another barrage of field goals inside. However, Louisiana would get its advantage on a 7-0 run to lead by two going to the final 10.

Fourth Quarter: A back-and-forth final 10 minutes started off slow for UTA with Louisiana taking a six-point edge with eight minutes to go. Foul trouble left Machado and VanDijk on the bench for much of the final 10 minutes, but midway through, both would enter the lineup. Despite a pair of easy buckets from both, VanDijk fouled out just a minute after entering to bring in Kelsey Johnson. The redshirt freshman would pick up four consecutive points and grab two key rebounds to bring the Lady Mavs back into the game.

Shelby Richards knocked down a jumper to tie things up, to bring on the final-minute heroics from Allen.

KEY STATS Ty'reonne Doucet led Louisiana with 17 points… UTA hit at a 38.5 percent clip, while Louisiana was 40.7 percent from the field. The win was UTA's first when allowing an opponent to shoot over 40 percent as UTA is 1-8 now this season… UTA out-rebounded Louisiana 38-34… UTA hit on 7-of-16 attempts from long range.

ELLIS’ HISTORIC NIGHT FUELS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PAST COASTAL CAROLINA
MOBILE, Ala. – Senior center Chyna Ellis became the all-time leader in Sun Belt Conference history in blocks and recorded her first-career triple-double as she led the University of South Alabama women's basketball team (12-5, 5-1 SBC) past the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (10-8, 4-3 SBC), 68-62. Ellis passed Denver's Kaetlyn Murdoch, who had 279, for the all-time lead in blocks.

Ellis recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks for her triple-double, the first for the women's basketball program since Adrian Vickers had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 16 steals on Dec. 27, 1989 at Florida International. The center's 10 blocks were a career-high, broke the record for most by a women's basketball player at the Mitchell Center, previously held by Genevieve Delk with eight. Her 10 blocks were also a part of a program-record 14 in a game, the previous record of 12 was done three-times.
Savannah Jones scored a team-high 17 points on the evening. The redshirt freshman guard went 6-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, and grabbed seven rebounds.

Genesis Perrymond was a part of a trio of Jaguars to score double-digit points with 11. The senior guard had a 4-for-12 shooting night and made three three-pointers, the first of which was the 100th made three-point bucket of her career. Perrymond grabbed four rebounds, assisted on four buckets, rejected two shots and had two takeaways.

Erin Autio and Shaforia Kines each recorded nine points on the evening. Autio went 3-for-4 on three-point attempts, while Kines shot 4-of-7 from the field and had a game-high six helpers.

Antoinette Lewis collected eight points, going 6-of-8 at the charity-stripe, and brought down four rebounds.

The Jag defense held Jas Adams, the second leading scorer in the Sun Belt, to just seven points on 3-of-12 shooting. Adams came into the game averaging a shade over 18 per contest. DJ Williams filled the void scoring 29 on 11-of-21 shooting, making 7-of-10 free-throws, and came up one rebound short of a double-double.

GAME FACTS
- The Jags came out swinging in the first quarter with 30 points.
- South Alabama shot 11-of-16 from the field in the opening quarter, making 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, and holding Coastal Carolina to just 14 points.
- USA continued its dominance over CCU in the second. Ellis drained a three at the buzzer to give South Alabama its largest lead of the game, 21 points.
- The Chanticleers were not going down without a fight as they outscored the Jags 19-6 in the third and cut the Jag lead to eight.
- Coastal got as close as four with 1:36 remaining in the game, but a Kines jumper and a pair of made free-throws down the stretch by Jones iced the game for South Alabama.
- USA was outrebounded by CCU 50-37, however, the Jags took the defensive glass 31-30.
- CCU turned 20 offensive boards into 11 second-chance points.
- Coastal dominated the paint 32-16, while South Alabama dominated bench points 27-11.
- USA scored 20 points off 17 Chanticleer turnovers.
- The Jags held CCU to just one made three-pointer on seven attempts, the fewest made by an opponent this season.

NOTES
- Tonight was head coach Terry Fowler's 51st win at South Alabama.
- The Jags are 8-2 at home this season.
- USA is on a four-game win-streak at home and a current win-streak of three games.
- Jones has recorded 10 or more points in nine of her last 10 games.
- Perrymond collected her fifth game of 10 or more points during the current campaign.
- Ellis has 286 career-block and has had 10 or more points in 11 of her last 12 games.
- The triple-double was fourth in program history, with other three accomplished by Vickers, Ella Williams in 1988 and Annette Williams in 1985.
- Jones has now made 39 three-pointers this season, the second most by a freshman in program history.
- The mark of 12-5 is the best record for the program since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 squads possessed the same record.
- USA's 5-1 SBC record is the best since the 2009-10 team started SBC play 7-0.
- South Alabama is 11-2 when scoring 60 or more points this season.

THEY SAID IT
USA head coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "At the start of the game I was really pleased with our focus and the effort we had, we really shot the ball well and were good on the defensive end of the floor. In the second half I thought we came out the first five minutes a little lethargic, we didn't have the urgency we needed, and they took advantage of that. But at the end of the day we were able to hold onto the lead and were able to finish it off. At 5-1 in league play I couldn't be more excited for us."

On Chyna Ellis: "It's been great, she and I have had conversations. Chyna has really matured, that's growing up and being a senior. She has taken giant steps on and off the floor. We expected this when we recruited her, we couldn't be happier for her and proud of her. She has done a lot of things, but the main thing is she has been about the team."

Senior C Chyna Ellis
On her performance in the game: "As far as scoring I was feeling good and my teammates were giving me the ball, just having confidence that I can score. The blocks just happened, they came to me and I went and got them."

On if she was thinking about setting the Sun Belt Conference blocks record: "Not really, I knew what the number was but I was just playing defense and trying to help the team."

On the team's start in Sun Belt Conference play: "We're happy and we're on a roll, it's a good start to conference play. If we keep building on this and keep playing how we have been nobody can beat us."

On what motivates her: "My baby girl, and trying to be there for the team. I'm a senior, I am just trying to do my part to help us get to our goals."

Senior G Genesis Perrymond
On holding off Coastal Carolina's second-half challenge: "The team is playing really well, we're playing together and we're playing very unselfish basketball; we're sharing the ball really well. I remember at the start of the half I looked at Sha[foria Kines] and said we have 12 assists on 16 made baskets, that's awesome. We play well together and have great chemistry, and even though they did have a good run and came back we stuck together."

UP NEXT
The Jaguars look to build on their three-game win-streak as they close out a three-game homestand against Appalachian State. Opening tip is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Coach Antoine Earns Win No. 100
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's basketball team (12-6, 5-2 SBC) dismantled visiting ULM (4-13, 1-5 SBC), 86-52, on Thursday evening inside Strahan Coliseum. With the victory, head coach Zenarae Antoine became the fourth coach in Texas State women's basketball history to reach 100 career wins with the Bobcats. She joins Suzanne Fox (174 wins), Judy Rinker (145 wins) and Linda Sharp (138 wins) in the exclusive 100-win club.

"We knew coming into this game that we needed to slow Gabriella Cortez down," head coach Zenarae Antoine said. "We have struggled in the past, allowing the opponent's best player to 'go-off' in a number of games. Holding her to eight points was a big key for us in this game."

The Bobcats jumped out to an early 6-1 lead on a pair of triples from sharpshooter Toshua Leavitt. Her first made 3-pointer of the evening gave her 197 for her career, the most ever by a Bobcat basketball player. She came into the game tied with Sarah Wagner for the all-time lead.

ULM responded by scoring eight of the next points in the ball game, taking a one-point lead. Senior guard Taeler Deer decided to take over in that moment, scoring the next 12 points for Texas State. Deer knocked down a trio of 3-point tries, including a four-point play during the run. Her scoring burst allowed the Bobcats to take a commanding 23-11 lead heading into the start of the second quarter.

After a lethargic effort on the defensive end of the floor from TXST, the Warhawks were able to gain a point back. ULM netted 21 points in the second frame but still trailed 43-32 at intermission.

After yielding 21 points in the second quarter, the Bobcats allowed just 20 points in the second half. The defensive clamps led to easy offense for Texas State. In total, the Bobcats outscored the Warhawks, 43-20 in the second half.

Deer led all scorers with 36 points, her second highest output this season. The Houston, Texas native connected on 13-of-20 shots from the floor, including a career-best six 3-point field goals. Deer chipped in a game-high seven assists and added three steals in just 29 minutes of action.

Leavitt provided even more history on an already momentous night for Texas State women's basketball. The junior guard registered 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting from behind the 3-point line. Leavitt's fourth triple of the night gave her 83 made 3-pointers on the season, the most ever by a women's basketball player at Texas State. She eclipsed the mark set by Joyce Ekworomadu in the 2007-08 campaign. She now holds the school records for made 3-pointers in a career (201), season (84) and single game (10).

Brooke Holle returned to action following a brief hiadous from the Bobcat lineup. In her return, she netted eight points, grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and dished out a pair of dimes. Jayla Johnson took advantage of extended minutes, scoring a career-high nine points in 11 minutes off the bench.

The Bobcats will face another quick turnaround, taking on Louisiana on Jan. 20 at Strahan Coliseum. The Ragin' Cajuns come to town for a 2:00 p.m. tip. The two teams met three times a season ago, Louisiana captured two victories, including a Sun Belt Conference Championships victory over TXST in New Orleans.