THIBODAUX, La. - The University of South Alabama women's basketball team jumped out to a double-digit first half lead Saturday afternoon and held off a late Nicholls State charge to snap a three-game skid and pick up a 63-50 victory over the Colonels at Stopher Gym.
"We had some good moments and some really good stretches today," South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. "We have to find a way to make those stretches last longer as we get deeper into our schedule. We had some stretches where we looked like a really good team and some stretches where we didn't. Fortunately, we had enough good stretches to create the margin we had for the win."
South Alabama (3-4) will now return home to the Mitchell Center to face Memphis on Wednesday and begin a stretch of four-straight home games. Tip-off versus the Tigers is set for 5:05 p.m. With the loss, the Colonels fall to 1-5 on the season.
USA placed three players in double figures led by Christian Shelter's 12 points. Morriah Smith and Sarda Peterson also chipped in with 11 points apiece. South Alabama's Shakira Nettles dressed, but did not play due to health concerns.
Nicholls State was also without a starte. Ricshanda Bickham - who entered as the Colonels leading scorer at 18.2 ppg - also missed the game due to injury. In her absence, NSU was paced offensively by Alisha Allen's game-high 16 points.
USA forced 26 Colonel turnovers and converted those opportunities into 22 points.
The Jags came out and grabbed the lead on their opening position. USA forced Nicholls State to throw the ball away on its first possession and then Brittney Rutledge knocked down a jumper to put South Alabama out in front, a lead it did not relinquish.
Morriah Smith's two free throws at the 10:51 mark gave the Jaguars a nine-point advantage (15-6), but South Alabama was unable to blow the game open at that point and allowed NSU to hang around. After Allen's jumper with just under six minutes remaining in the opening half, the Jags began to tighten their defense. Over the next five-plus minutes, the Colonels did not score a point. USA took advantage of the Nicholls State drought and reeled off an 8-0 run. Siedah Banks gave the Jags their largest lead to of the first half when the junior point guard cut to the basket for a wide-open layup with 48 seconds left on the clock. The Banks basket put South Alabama up 29-15.
Nicholls State's scoreless streak was ended in the closing seconds when Jasmine Hoskins hit the first of her two attempts at the charity stripe, just before the break to send the two clubs into the locker room with USA holding a 29-16 advantage.
South Alabama - which had struggled from the floor on the road in its previous three road games this season - connected on 12 of its 29 attempts for 41.4 percent. The Colonels were just 6-of-26 from the field in the opening 20 minutes for 23.1 percent.
In t he second half, Nicholls State came out of the intermission and played with more energy early in the second half. With South Alabama holding just a 12-point advantage (40-28) with 12 minutes remaining, the Jags suddenly found their offense. USA went on another run, this one a 14-5 spurt over the next five minutes to take its largest lead of the afternoon at 55-33. Cylenthia Kennon gave the Jags the 22-point advantage with a pair of free throws with just over seven minutes left on the clock. During the run, South Alabama found its touch from behind the arc, connecting on three treys - two from Lauren Walker and one from Peterson.
Holding the huge lead, South Alabama began to relax on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Nicholls State took advantage and was able to get as close as 11 when Chelsea McNamee hit a three-pointer from the left wing with four minutes left. The Jags didn't allow the Colonels to draw any closer the rest of the way and held on for the 13-point road 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: Shakira Nettles streak of 69 consecutive starts came to an end Saturday afternoon against Nicholls State as the senior was not in the starting line up. Senior guard Morriah Smith made her first start of the season in place of Nettles. Christian Shelter recorded her sixth double-figure scoring game of the season and led the Jags in that category for the fifth time this year.
