MOBILE, Ala. ? Behind Shakira Nettles’ 23 point effort Saturday afternoon, the South Alabama women’s basketball team captured a 68-60 Sun Belt Conference victory over New Orleans at the Mitchell Center.
Nettles was 8-for-15 from the floor against the Privateers, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc in 38 minutes of action. Also joining Nettles in double figures were Ra’Shawna Sippio with 14 points and Jessica Starling and Morriah Smith with 11 points each. Sippio also added a team-high 10 rebounds to give the senior forward her sixth straight double-double.
New Orleans was paced by Jada Frazier’s 17 points. The senior guard was 7-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-7 from three-point range. Brittany Helm chipped in 14 points, while Cookie Johnson added 11.
USA (15-7, 6-5 SBC) will continue Sun Belt Conference play on Wednesday evening when the Lady Jags host North Texas. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. The Privateers fall to 10-12 overall and 5-6 in league play.
South Alabama came out hot offensively, connecting on eight of its first 12 shots from the field to jump out to a 17-10 lead at the 12:27 mark. Nettles led the way, recording eight of the Lady Jags’ points during the run. Starling and Smith combined for South Alabama’s other seven points during that opening stretch. On New Orleans next trip down floor, Frazier drained her second three-pointer of the period to end USA’s run.
With nine minutes, six seconds remaining in the half, Nettles continued her blistering shooting and put South Alabama back out in front 24-15 when the junior drained one of her three first half treys. UNO trimmed the deficit to 24-19 on a Nicole Holmes jumper with just over eight minutes left, but the Jag defense stiffened. Following the Holmes basket, the Privateers struggled to find the range, only hitting one of their final 12 attempts over the remaining eight minutes of the period. USA took advantage of the Privateer slump, outscoring UNO 12-5 during the final six minutes of the half. Smith’s three-pointer from the left corner at the 1:39 mark sent the Lady Jags into the locker room with a 36-24 lead.
Coming out of the intermission, South Alabama quickly pushed its lead out to 19 (45-26), opening the half on a 9-2 spurt. Sippio ? who had been scoreless during the first 20 minutes of play ? got things going when Nettles found her underneath the basket for a layup. Sippio later capped off the run with a pair of back-to-back buckets, the last coming on a layup at the 15:44 mark off one of Smith’s game-high six assist.
New Orleans answered the Lady Jag run with one of its own. Johnson ignited a 12-3 Privateer run over the next four minutes with a three-pointer from the left corner on UNO’s next possession. Holmes’ pair of free throws with 11 minutes, 22 seconds left cut the South Alabama lead to 48-38.
As she did most of the night though, Nettles came up clutch and pushed USA’s advantage back out to 14 two minutes later with another trey.
The Privateers would not go away though and kept chipping away at the deficit over the next several minutes, pulling to within 63-58 on a Candice McGee put back with just over three minutes remaining; the closest UNO had been since the eight minute mark of the first half.
South Alabama though didn’t let New Orleans draw any nearer. USA’s Smith connected on a pair of free throws a minute later and after a South Alabama time out, Nettles came off a screen and hit a crucial layup. Starling then hit one of her two free throw attempts to swell the Jaguar lead back to double figures (68-58) with under a minute to go. South Alabama went on to pick up the eight-point victory.
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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