BOCA RATON, Fla. ? Playing without senior forward and leading scorer Whitney Woodard, the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team dropped a 58-55 Sun Belt Conference decision Thursday night to Florida Atlantic at FAU Arena. Woodard was suspended prior to the game for a violation of team rules.
“Tonight we needed players to step up in the absence of Whitney (Woodard) and we didn’t have enough players do it,” said South Alabama women’s basketball head coach Rick Pietri. “You have to give Florida Atlantic credit; their kids competed hard and made enough plays to win the game. They wanted it more than we did and deserved to get the victory.”
With the loss, USA falls to 12-15 overall and 6-11 in the Sun Belt, while the Lady Owls improve to 6-23 and 2-15 in the league. South Alabama will now face in-state rival Troy on Saturday at the Mitchell Center at 5 p.m. in a key game for seeding in the upcoming SBC Tournament.
Both teams came out struggling offensively from the field in the opening part of the first half. With the score tied a 10-10 with just under nine minutes played in the game, USA went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 21-12 advantage. Petra Jacob capped off the run for the Lady Jags with a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 8:19 mark. Florida Atlantic, however, kept battling back over the next several minutes and eventually tied the contest back up at 25 when Sally N’Diaye dropped in a put back with one minute, 30 seconds left on the clock. South Alabama’s Shakira Nettles later found a cutting Valencia Boswell for a lay up just before the half to give the Jags a two point lead (27-25) at the break. Boswell led all scorers in the first period of play with 11 points.
In the second half, Mistoria Brown gave FAU its first lead of the game at 36-34 when the senior sprinted down the court for a lay up six minutes into the second half. The Lady Owls later increased their lead to five at 43-38 when Cristal Randolph drained a trey from the left corner at the 11:15 mark. After Randolph put the Lady Owls up 47-40 with just under seven minutes to play, Jacob and Amanda Leonard nailed back-to-back trey of their own to trim the deficit to 48-46. FAU though answered the Jag challenge and quickly pushed its lead back out to six (52-46) at the five minute mark.
South Alabama kept fighting though and pulled to within one (56-55) after Cortney Brown converted on an old-fashioned three-point play with seven seconds left on the clock. After a pair of free throws from Randolph, USA still had a chance to tie the game back up but on the inbounds, Mistoria Brown knocked the ball away and came away with the steal. The Lady Jags, forced to foul with very little time left on the clock, again had an opportunity to knot the game up after Britteny Crenshaw missed the front-end of a one-and-one opportunity at the charity stripe, but the Jags were unable to get of a shot before the final horn.
South Alabama placed four players in double digits on the night led by Boswell, Brown and Monique Jones who each had 11. Tiffany Sanders also chipped in with 10. Brown and Randolph paced the Lady Owls with 12 points apiece.
