MOBILE, Ala. ? The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team rallied back from an 18-point first half deficit Sunday afternoon but fell short as Arkansas State captured a 78-73 victory at the Mitchell Center.
The loss drops the Jags to 11-14 on the season and 5-10 in conference play, while the Lady Indians (17-8, 10-4 SBC) move into a first place tie with Louisiana-Lafayette in the SBC West Division with the win. USA will take a week off before returning to action when the Jaguar women head Miami to take on Florida International next Sunday (Feb. 18) at Noon (Central).
ASU came out on fire in the first half, hitting nine of its first 12 shots from the floor. After back-to-back baskets from Amanda Leonard trimmed the Jag deficit to 14-9 with just over 14 minutes left in the opening half, the Lady Indians continued their torrid shooting and stretched their lead out to 14 (26-12) over the next five minutes, courtesy of a 12-3 run. All-Sun Belt performer Adrianne Davie ignited the ASU scoring spurt with a jumper, one of her seven field goals in the first period of play. Davie later gave Arkansas State its largest lead of the afternoon when the senior center converted on an old-fashioned three-point play with just over seven minutes left.
Over the next four minutes, USA found its shooting touch and reeled off a run of its own, this one a 15-3 run that included 12 unanswered points. Monique Jones brought the Lady Jags to within six at 38-32 with a three-pointer at the 2:58 mark, but after the two clubs traded baskets, the Lady Indians closed the half on a 9-0 run to head into the locker room with a 49-34 advantage. Davie gave ASU the 15 point lead when she beat the Jag defense down the court for a layup right before the halftime buzzer.
Davie, as she did in Jonesboro earlier this season, dropped in 20 points in the opening stanza, while Ali Carter added 13 first half points of her own on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting, including three treys. As a team, the Lady Indians shot a blistering 58.1 percent from the floor. USA was paced in the first stanza by Whitney Woodard and Jones, who each had 11 points.
Coming out of the intermission, the Lady Jags quickly erased most of the deficit, cutting the ASU advantage to 49-44 with just over three minutes played in the second half. A jumper from Woodard capped off a 10-0 South Alabama run to open the half.. Arkansas State, however, answered right back and pushed its lead back out to nine with just over 13 minutes left on the clock. ASU held an 11-point lead (64-53) at the 10:07 mark after a pair of Davie free throws when USA began to mount its charge. Jones got things going for the Jags when she drained her fourth trey of the night with under 10 minutes to go. Jeanette Tucker later capped of a 13-2 Lady Jag run and tied the contest back up at 66-66 with a running one-hander in the lane with just over four minutes to play in regulation.
The momentum was short-lived though for USA as Rudy Simms (ASU) came right back down the floor and gave the Indians the lead again with a layup of her own. After a Carter three-pointer and three more free throws from Davie, Arkansas State led again by six at (74-68) with two minutes, 15 seconds to play. South Alabama again tried to rally and pulled to within one at 74-73 after Shaniece Brunner knocked down a three-pointer of her own from the right corner with under a minute to go. Simms though sealed the victory for the Lady Indians when she came right back and hit a baseline shot with 14.3 seconds left.
Davie led all scorers on the night with 34 points, including 16 points from the charity stripe. She also added a team-high nine points. Carter finished the night with 20 points of her own and Sims chipped in with 12 points and 10 assists. USA was led by Woodard (22) and Jones (20). Woodard also had 12 rebounds to give the Jag senior her eighth double-double of the season.
