MOBILE. Ala. - For the second-straight game, the University of South Alabama women's basketball team used strong outside shooting to cruise to a 74-44 victory over Western Illinois Monday evening at the Mitchell Center.
South Alabama (2-1) connected on 13 of its 27 attempts from behind three-point range for 48.1 percent shooting in the win. Six Jaguars ended the night with at least one trey, while four had two or more.
"We had six different kids make threes tonight," South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. "The good thing about that is that is makes defenses know that they have to account for us out there, which helps spread the floor out for us. It's good for us to be able to do that."
Overall, the Jags were 27-of-58 from the field for 47 percent shooting. USA also turned in a strong defensive performance in the victory, forcing 22 Leatherneck turnovers and converting them into 21 points. South Alabama protected the ball on the offensive end and finished the night with 19 assists and just 11 turnovers.
"We only turned it over 11 times and we were able to make 19 scoring passes, which is a great ratio," Pietri added. "It's just like the touchdown-interception ratio for quarterbacks in football. When you can make more scoring passes than you give it away you're doing pretty well, and when you can make almost twice as many scoring passes as you give it away that's even better. "
Christian Shelter was one of four players to post double-digits for the Jags, recording a career-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The Mobile native was also 3-for-5 from long-range.
Sarda Peterson (14), Shakira Nettles (12) and Siedah Banks (10) were the other three players for South Alabama to end the night in double digits. Banks also had a career-best eight assists and did not turn the ball over once.
Western Illinois (1-3) was paced offensively by Ashley Lord's 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Anneloes Kodde also added 11 of her own for WIU.
The Jags will now head to Seattle, Wash., to compete at the Dave Cox Thanksgiving Classic (Nov. 27-28). USA will open up against William & Mary on Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) and then take on Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday at 5 p.m. (CT).
Like in the Spring Hill game, the trio of Brittney Rutledge, Nettles and Shelter ignited the offense early on combining for 19 of USA's first 22 points. Shelter's three-pointer from the top of the key at the 12:03 mark put the Jaguars out in front 22-9. South Alabama came out on fire from the floor during the first eight minutes of the contest, knocking down eight of its first 15 shots, including five from behind the arc.
Over the next four minutes, USA cooled off a bit, but rode its defense during that stretch and forced seven Leatherneck turnovers.
South Alabama kept the lead in double digits for much of the remainder of the half until back-to-back baskets from Lord and Michele Salvatori's with under two minutes to play in the first half brought WIU to within nine (28-19). The Jags answered right back though with five unanswered points to close the period and head into the locker room holding a 33-19 advantage. Shelter's 12-foot jumper at the 1:09 mark began the scoring and the Jags then hit three of their four attempts at the free throw line to close the scoring spurt.
Coming out of the intermission, South Alabama didn't let up the intensity. The two clubs exchanged a pair of turnovers and a pair of baskets to open the second 2o minutes of play, but following a trey from Kodde with just under 17 minutes left on the clock, USA exploded on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to break things open. Following the Kodde three-pointer, Shelter drained one of her own on the ensuing possession for the Jaguars - which ignited the South Alabama run. After making the first of two attempts at the charity stripe at the 12:19 mark, Rutledge grabbed her miss on the second attempt and laid the ball off the glass to cap off the run and give USA a 50-25 advantage with 12 minutes, 15 seconds remaining.
Over the remainder of the half, South Alabama kept the intensity level up and never allowed Western Illinois to get the deficit under 20 points. USA eventually led by as many as 32 before taking the 74-44 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).
NOTES: The 13 three-pointers by South Alabama were a season-high. For the second-straight game, the Jag defense held an opponent to 44 points. The eight assists by Siedah Banks were a new career-high for the Little, Rock, Ark., native. Christian Shelter's 17 points set a new career-best for the junior forward. After hitting just two three-pointers in its season opener versus Southern Miss, South Alabama has now hit 13 in each of its last two games.
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