NEW ORLEANS – South Alabama advances to the semifinals of the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship, presented by First Bank and Trust with a 87-74 overtime win over the Troy Trojans on Thursday afternoon at the Lakefront Arena.

South Alabama outscored the Trojans 18-5 in overtime to seal the win and advance to the first semifinal appearance since 2009. Shaforia Kines hit two big threes at the start of the fourth quarter and overtime to set the tone for the Jaguars. Kines went for a game-high 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists.

The Jaguars got off to a hot start in the first quarter this afternoon. The Jaguars shot 60 percent from the floor in the quarter, and redshirt junior, Christen Carter went 5-for-5 in the first and 6-for-6 to start the game. Carter went for a career-high 19 points and brought in four rebounds.

Troy battled back in the second quarter and outpaced the Jaguars 24-14 to head into halftime up by one. The second half featured a back-and-forth battle between the two programs. The game saw nine ties and 11 lead changes until the Jaguars took the final lead with a Kines three that made it 73-71 with four minutes to play in overtime.

South Alabama had four scorers in double figures in today's effort. Kines led the team with her 23, Carter second with 19, Antoinette Lewis had 15 points and 12 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season, and Jayla Morrow had 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting off the bench.

The Jags move to 23-9 on the season, and have won 23 games for the first time since the 1986-87 season.