MOBILE, Ala. ? Senior forward Whitney Woodard and junior guard Monique Jones combined for 39 second half points to help lead South Alabama to a 69-57 come-from-behind victory Saturday night at the Mitchell Center.

“There is no question that both Monique (Jones) and Whitney (Woodard) stepped up big for us in the second half,” said South Alabama women’s basketball head coach Rick Pietri to the duo’s performance.  “They had two baskets between them in the first half and both responded brilliantly in the second half.  I’m real excited for both of them.  When things weren’t going well for us in the first half, Tiffany Sanders kept us in the game.  Her contributions tonight were excellent, as well.  Her focus level was where it needed to be tonight and she was wired in at both ends of the court.  Without her in the first half, it could have got real ugly but she kept the hole from getting too deep for us to climb out of.  In the second half, Monique and Whitney just took over and started making plays.” 

The win improves USA to 7-8 overall and 1-4 in the Sun Belt, while conference newcomer FAU falls to 4-13 on the season and remains winless at 0-5 in the SBC.  South Alabama will next face in-state foe Troy Thursday night on the road at 5:15 p.m.

The Lady Jags came out struggling offensively in the first half, connecting on only one of their first 15 shots and turning the ball over eight times.  During that same stretch, Florida Atlantic took advantage of USA’s struggles, jumping out to a 13-3 lead.  Mistoria Brown and Andrea Taylor led the charge for the Owls, combining for 11 of FAU’s 13 points.  A Tiffany Sanders jumper at the 10:22 mark seemed to spark the Jag offense and ignite an 11-2 run over the next four minutes.  Another basket by Sanders capped off the scoring spurt and trimmed the deficit to one at 15-14 with six minutes, 35 seconds to play in the opening half. 

FAU answered right back though, scoring nine of the next 11 points to stretch its advantage out to 24-16 on a pair of free throws from Bianca Sellers.  Brown later gave Florida Atlantic its largest lead of the night at nine (29-20) with her second three-pointer of the night, this one coming at the 2:15 mark.  True freshman Shakira Nettles answered right back on the Jags next trip down on the floor with a trey of her own and then hit a pair of free throws with just under a minute to go in the first period to trim the deficit to 31-25.  FAU took the six point lead into the intermission.

The story of the first half was the Lady Jags inability to hit shots from long range, as USA went 2-for-13 from behind the arc in the first stanza.  Brown, Florida Atlantic’s leading scorer entering play, recorded 15 first half points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-2 from three-point land.

After struggling in the first half, shooting a combined 2-for-15, Whitney Woodard and Monique Jones found their offensive touch coming out of halftime and led the charge for the Jaguar women.  Jones ignited a 19-3 South Alabama outburst over a three-and-a-half minute stretch with one of her seven three-pointers on the night, this one coming with 18 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the game.  Woodard then drove the lane and laid the ball in to cut the FAU lead to one and after a Demina Anderson free throw, Jones drained her second straight trey to give South Alabama its first lead of the night at 33-32 at the 17:29 mark.  Three more baskets from the Jag duo kept the run going and Raena Ellis capped off the scoring spurt with a trey of her own from the left corner to give USA a 10-point advantage, 44-34. 

The Lady Owls cut the Jag advantage to eight (48-40) with a pair of Breana Cox free throws with just under 13 minutes to play in regulation, but that was as close as USA let FAU get the rest of the way.  Woodard and Jones went on to score 19 of USA’s final 21 points.  Woodard gave South Alabama its largest lead of the night at 69-52 when she stole the ball from FAU’s Brittany Crenshaw and drove the court for a lay up at the 3:13 mark.  The Jags went on to take the 14-point victory and pick up their first conference victory of the season.

Woodard and Jones led the way on the night for USA with 24 and 23 points, respectively.  The duo combined for 39 points in the second half to lead the Jaguar comeback.  After going 1-for-10 in the first half, Woodard was unconscious in the second stanza, hitting nine of her 12 attempts from the floor.  The Memphis, Tenn., native also pulled down 10 boards on the night for her fifth double-double of the season.  Jones was just as hot in the final period of play, going 7-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-8 from behind the arc.  Sanders also finished in double figures on the night, recording a career-high 10 points off the bench for USA on the night.

FAU was paced by Brown’s 18 points, but the Lady Owl forward scored just three points in the final period of play.  After allowing Florida Atlantic to shoot 48 percent in the first half, the Jag defense turned up the pressure in the second half, limiting the Lady Owls to 26 percent shooting.  For the game, USA also forced 23 FAU turnovers and recorded a season-high 11 steals.