MOBILE, Ala. — After breaking for final exams, the Sugar Bears return to action on Saturday when they take on South Alabama at 1:05pm in Mobile.

The Sugar Bears (5-3) meet the Jaguars (6-3) for the first time, and will be playing their first Sun Belt Conference opponent since Arkansas State in 2013.

USA enters Saturday's game with a 3-1 mark on the season in the Mitchell Center with wins over Georgia Southwestern, New Orleans and Southern, with a 60-58 loss to Jacksonville their lone home setback. The Jags have also picked up road wins at North Carolina, Southern Miss and Alabama State.

USA is led by 6-foot-1 senior center Chyna Ellis, who tops the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots at 16.2, 9.9, and 2.3 per game. She paces a defense that ranks 6th nationally in blocks per game at 6.8. Savannah Jones averages 13.4 points and has knocked down a team-high 17 3-pointers on the season, just ahead of Erin Autio (16) and Genesis Perrymond (15). In all, the Jags have knocked down 70 from long range this season – 7.8 per game. The Sugar Bears have hit 50, 6.25 per contest. USA is holding its opponents to 27 percent shooting from long range, limiting the opposition to just 4.6 3-point field goals per game.

It will be the first game for the Sugar Bears since a tight battle against No. 21 Texas A&M last Saturday, when the Aggies held just a three-point lead entering the fourth quarter and did not pull away until the final few minutes in the 72-61 win. The Sugar Bears got a career-high 15 points from Taylor Sells, who has averaged 12.3 points over the last three games. Taylor Baudoin, who would go on to be named Southland Conference Player of the Week, had 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in that game.

After Saturday's game, the Sugar Bears will travel to Miami to take on Clemson and either North Dakota State or FIU in the FIU Holiday Tournament on Dec. 20 and 21.


FOLLOW
• Radio broadcast with Steve Owens on The Bear 91.3 & streaming online, with pregame beginning at 12:45
• Streaming video via JagNationTV • Follow @ucasports, @ucascoreboard and @ucawbb on Twitter

GAME NOTES
• Since making the move to Division I in 2006-07, the Sugar Bears are 3-2 against Sun Belt competition, with three wins over ULM and a pair of losses to Arkansas State
• Overall, the Sugar Bears are 9-8 against current Sun Belt members, including 3-3 marks vs Texas State and UT Arlington during their time as members of the Southland Conference
• The Sugar Bears are 0-3 on the road this season with losses at No. 3 Baylor, No. 12 Tennessee, and No. 21 Texas A&M
• Over the last two games, the Sugar Bears are shooting 48.6 percent (17 of 35) from 3-point range, led by Antonija Bozic, who is 9 of 16 (56.3 percent) during that stretch