DENVER ? Senior forward Ra’Shawna Sippio posted her fifth-straight double-double Wednesday evening, but it wasn’t enough as the Jaguar women dropped a 61-56 Sun Belt Conference decision to Denver at Magness Arena.
“We had our opportunities in regulation, but no one could make the play when we needed it in overtime,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “We had a drive for a couple of layup opportunities, a ball go through our hands and a perimeter miss, so we had our chances. We couldn’t score and then we couldn’t keep them from scoring. We were in a game against an opponent that hasn’t lost in conference play at home and we just didn’t finish. We did fight the whole way and stay with them, but it just doesn’t make you feel any better.”
Sippio led all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. She was the lone Lady Jag to card double figures against the Pioneers and finished the game 10-for-19 from the field. Denver’s Britteni Rice posted 18 points for the Pioneers, while Kaetlyn Murdoch added 11 points of her own.
USA (14-7, 5-5 SBC) will return home to host New Orleans on Saturday as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. Tip-off for the Lady Jags is set for 4:30 p.m. at the Mitchell Center. Denver improves to 11-9 and 6-3 in league play with the win.
One positive note for the Lady Jags was at the charity stripe, where USA converted all nine of its attempts, the first time it has been perfect at the line since going 18-of-18 at the stripe against Belmont on Nov. 20, 2003.
After both teams remained scoreless for the first two and a half minutes of the extra session, Rice put DU on the board first when she drained her second three-pointer of the night with two minutes, 27 seconds left. Murdoch then stretched the Pioneers lead out to 60-53 with two-straight buckets, before Karina Sproal finally got USA into the scoring column in overtime with three free throws. The Jag senior was fouled on a trey attempt with under a minute to play. After forcing a stop at the defensive end of the court on Denver’s next possession, USA was unable to come up with the loose ball rebound. Denver’s Andi Mason was then fouled and made one of her two attempts at the stripe. South Alabama was unable to come up with a score in the closing seconds, falling by six. The Lady Jags were 0-of-6 from the field in the overtime session with Sproal’s free throws being the only points scored for USA.
Coming out of the intermission, Denver grabbed its largest lead to that point on a pair of back-to-back buckets from Rice that put DU up 30-23 at the 18:15 mark. With the South Alabama offense struggling to get on track, Shaniece Brunner kept the Lady Jags in it early in the second half, recording USA’s first six points.
Trailing by eight (33-25) after a Brianna Culberson free throw with 15:55 left in regulation, South Alabama began to mount its charge, outscoring 12-4 over the next four-plus minutes. Sproal found Sippio for a layup at the 11:24 mark to put the Jaguar women back out in front 35-34.
The two clubs exchanged the lead back-and-forth over the next several minutes, until with the game tied at 44 with just under eight minutes to go, USA rattled off five unanswered points and took the 49-44 lead a minute later on a Shakira Nettles three-point play.
Denver answered right back though and quickly retook the lead with a run of seven straight points, taking a 52-49 advantage at the 4:20 mark on a Murdoch layup.
Down the stretch the two teams kept it close. With two minutes, 28 seconds left on the clock, Sippio continued to provide the scoring and put the Jags out in front 53-52 when the Kissimmee, Fla., native muscled home a shot under the basket. Murdoch then hit one of her two attempts at the free throw line at the 1:25 mark to send the contest into its 10th tie at 53-53. DU had a chance to win in the waning seconds, but the Jag defense held strong and forced a Pioneer turnover. With 4.4 seconds remaining, Nettles took the inbounds pass and drove the floor, but her three-pointer as time expired was off the mark, sending the game into overtime.
With the Lady Jags holding a three-point advantage on a Jessica Starling step-back three-pointer with just under 12 minutes to go in the opening half, Denver reeled off five quick points and took its first lead of the game on a Mason trey from the top of the key at the 10:51 mark. The Mason basket would be the last for Denver over the next five-plus minutes though. South Alabama tied things back up at 13 on a Sippio put back ? two of her 10 first half points ? and then retook the lead when Nettles found Morrah Smith for a fast break layup with eight minutes, 30 seconds left in the period. Two minutes later, Sippio put USA up 17-13 when the senior knocked down another jumper in the lane.
USA was unable to pull away from the Pioneers during their offensive struggles. Sara Bents ended the offensive drought for DU when Otero drove the lane and found the senior for a layup at the 5:15 mark. Denver then knotted things back up at 17-all on a pair of free throws at the 3:51 mark by Otero.
With South Alabama holding a two-point advantage at 23-21 with less than two minutes to play before the intermission, Denver’s Rice connected on a trey to put the Pioneers back out in front by one and then after intercepting a Jaguar pass with under a minute to go, Otero raced down court for a layup to send DU into the locker room up 26-23.
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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