MIAMI - The University of South Alabama women's basketball team used a 10-0 run midway through the second half Saturday afternoon to pick up a 61-51 Sun Belt Conference road victory over Florida International at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
USA improves to 7-6 on the year and 2-0 in league play with the win. The Jags will now close out the road trip when they head to Boca Raton, Fla., to take on Florida Atlantic on Saturday. Tip-off versus the Owls is set for 4 p.m. (CT) at FAU Arena. Live stats, as well as audio for the FAU game will be available via the internet at www.usajaguars.com.
Morriah Smith led all scorers with a career-high 16 points. The senior was 4-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 at the charity stripe - including 4-of-5 in the final minute of the game. Shakira Nettles was close behind her with 14 points of her own and became the 18th player at USA to record 1,000 points for her career. She is currently 17th on the list with 1,011 for her career.
Tashley Gaines and Siedah Banks also finished the contest in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
"We had a lot of players step up for us today and make significant plays for us at both ends of the floor," South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. "I was really concerned about (Florida International's) size inside, but for the most part, we did a pretty good job managing it. It was a very opportunistic win for our kids and they really stepped up for us, particularly in the first half when we didn't score for a stretch. They really responded late in the half to send us in tied. I couldn't be more proud of our kids, because FIU is a good basketball team."
FIU (6-8, 1-2 SBC) was led offensively by Elisa Carey's 14 points and 14 rebounds. Cherisse Buddy came off the bench to record a season-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Two key stats of the afternoon were in three-point shooting and turnovers. USA was an efficient 8-of-12 from beyond the arc for 66.7 percent, and forced the Golden Panthers into 20 turnovers, 13 coming off steals led by Nettles' six. FIU, which came into the game shooting over 36 percent was just 5-for-22 from beyond the arc for 22.7 percent.
Coming out of half time tied at 26, neither team was able to pull away from the other over the firs t seven minutes. Trailing 41-39 after a layup from Carey with less than 13 minutes to go, the Jags reeled off 10 unanswered points over the next three minutes and took the lead for good. Sarda Peterson's trey from the left corner coming out of a time out at the 12:14 mark gave USA a lead it did not relinquish. After a conventional three-point play from Banks and a Christian Shelter jumper, Banks capped off the run and gave USA the 49-41 advantage with a pair of free throws at the 9:23 mark.
The Golden Panthers hung around and got as close as two (49-47) following Buddy's third three-pointer of the game, this one coming at with four minutes, 26 seconds left on the clock, but USA would not allow them to draw any closer the rest of the way.
On the Jags' ensuing possession though, Nettles drove the left side of the floor and knocked down an 8-foot baseline jumper to extend the lead back out to four and a minute later Smith found Shaniece Brunner open in the left corner for a pivotal three-pointer.
"Shaniece's three-point shot from the left baseline probably was the back-breaker for them," Pietri said of the senior's shot. "We were up four at that point and she hit the shot to make it seven. That was an enormous shot and we are grateful that she made if for us."
FIU got no closer than five the rest of the way as South Alabama hit six of its nine attempts at the foul line in the closing minutes to preserve the 10-point victory.
South Alabama used the long-range shot early on connecting on four of its first six attempts from beyond the arc. Gaines gave the Jags a 16-9 lead with 12 minutes, 38 seconds left in the half with a trey of her own. Over the next eight minutes the South Alabama offense struggled to find the range as it did not score a point.
FIU took advantage of South Alabama's offensive woes and took its first lead of the afternoon with a 15-0 run. Buddy ignited the scoring for the Golden Panthers with an offensive put back with just under 12 minutes to go and then capped the scoring off with another layup at the 5:09 mark. Buddy recorded all seven of her first half points during the Panther run.
Coming out of a 30-second time out, the Jags seemed to regain their energy after Banks drove the lane and hit a running jumper with 4:51 on the clock to end the scoreless streak. After trading points, it was Florida International's turn to go into a drought as the Jags held the Golden Panthers scoreless over the final four minutes, 31 seconds of the period.
Banks hit a pair of free throws and then attacked the goal again for another basket to trim the deficit to 26-23 at the 2:34 mark. FIU looked as if it were going to head into the locker room with the three-point advantage but Nettles knocked the ball away from Monika Bosilj with under 30 seconds remaining and then drained her second three-pointer of the half from the left wing as the clock expired to send the two clubs into the intermission tied at 26.
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: With her three-pointer at the 18:28 mark, Shakira Nettles became the 18th Jaguar woman to eclipse the 1,000 point mark for her career. Nettles' six steals also tied a career-high for the senior. The last time that she had six steals in a game was on Jan. 28, 2007 when she had six against North Texas. Morriah Smith set a new career-high with 16 points. USA is now 7-2 this season and 129-35 when holding its opponents under the 60-point mark under Pietri. USA has now won five-straight in the series and four-straight in Miami.
-- USA --
