MOBILE, Ala. ? Senior guard Jessica Starling scored 24 of her 27 points in the second half Sunday afternoon to lead the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team to an 82-52 exhibition win over West Florida at the Mitchell Center.

The Lady Jags will open up the 2008-09 regular season on Friday (Nov. 14) when they host Nicholls State.  Tip-off is set for 5 p.m.

Starling was 10-of-13 from the field, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc against the Lady Argonauts.  The Tallahassee, Fla., was on fire in the second frame, hitting a blistering 90 percent of her shots, five of which came from long range.  Freshman forward Vontrice Dennis also had an impressive outing, finishing with 10 points, four rebounds and five steals.  Senior center Shaniece Brunner was one point away from recording a double-double for the Jags as she ended the night with nine points and a team-high 11 boards.  All 10 players that saw action in the win scored at least two points and saw at least 13 minutes of action.

West Florida was led by Dominique Boykins’s 15 points, 11 coming in the second half.  Tiffany Williams was close behind her with 14 points of her own. 

USA was strong defensively, forcing 27 UWF turnovers, 12 of which came courtesy of a Lady Jag steal.  South Alabama also recorded six blocks against the Lady Argonauts.    

Both teams came out of the gate struggling to find their shot early, combining to hit just four of their  first 15 attempts.  After USA’s Lauren Walker put the Lady Jags up 14-8 with a jumper from the left corner with just over 10 minutes to go in the opening half, Victoria Hunt led the Argo offense recording UWF’s next five points to close the gap to three (16-13) at the 7:59 mark.  After a Shakira Nettles free throw, Williams’ jumper less than a minute later cut the Lady Jag advantage to two at 17-15.

Dennis then provided a spark for the Lady Jags, igniting a 16-4 run the final six and a half minutes of the period.  The freshman started the run when she drove the lane and knocked down a eight foot pull up jumper and then knocked the ball away and laid it off the glass to put South Alabama up by eight (25-17) at the 4:38 mark.  Siedah Banks capped off the scoring spurt with a pair of plays.  The Little Rock, Ark., native first found a cutting Cylenthia Kennon for another layup and then scored on an acrobatic layup of her own at the 1:19 mark. 

The Lady Jags headed into the locker room with a 33-19 lead.  Besides the big run at the end of the first period of play, the defensive pressure by the Lady Jags was a big key in the success late.  USA forced UWF into 17 first half turnovers, while protecting the ball and only committing eight turnovers.  Williams (UWF) led all scorers in the opening frame with eight points, while USA was paced by Brunner and Shakira Nettles seven points apiece. 

After only taking three shots in the first half, Starling came out of the intermission on fire.  The senior guard stole the show in the first nine minutes of the second half, reeling off 19 of South Alabama’s first 23 points.  Starling started things off with a layup 10 seconds into the period and then put USA up 56-37 with her fourth trey of the half at the 11:39 mark.  West Florida had no answer for Starling or the Lady Jags as it never got any closer than 12 (39-27) in the second half.  South Alabama went up 60-40 at the 10:11 mark when junior guard Morriah Smith stole the ball in the UWF backcourt and laid if off the glass.  Kennon later gave USA its largest lead of the night in the final minute, when she took a pass from Banks and drained a three-pointer from the left corner to put South Alabama up 82-50.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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