MOBILE, Ala. ? Behind a combined 34 points from seniors Jessica Starling and Ra’Shawna Sippio and a career-high 14 rebounds from fellow senior Shaniece Brunner, the South Alabama women’s basketball team captured its 10th Sun Belt Conference victory of the season with a 63-48 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Saturday evening on “Senior Night” at the Mitchell Center.
“To end the home season with a 13-2 record is a great accomplishment,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said of the Lady Jags home-court advantage this season. “You want to win all your home games, but if you had asked me before the season if I would have taken a 13-2 this season at home, I would have said yes. I was very glad we could get our seniors a win on senior night, which is important.”
With the win, South Alabama secures at least a first round home game in next month’s conference tournament. USA is also still in position for the first round bye, should the Lady Jags defeat Troy in the regular season finale and Denver lose two out of its final three games.
“Obviously, we are hoping to get the first round bye, but we need some help,” Pietri added. “The consolation prize of being able to play a home game should we not get it, is a pretty nice consolation prize though.”
Starling posted 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a 5-for-6 performance from beyond the arc, while Sippio chipped in with 15. Junior guard Morriah Smith also added 14 points for USA, 12 of which coming after the intermission.
Lottie Moore led all scorers with a game-high 23 points in the loss.
USA (19-9, 10-7 SBC) will take a week off and close out the regular season when the Lady Jags head to face in-state rival and Troy on Saturday (Feb. 28) at 5 p.m. With the loss, the Warhawks fall to 13-14 overall and 6-10 in league action.
Trailing by two at the intermission, South Alabama used a more focused effort coming out of halftime. Sippio knocked down a pair of free throws a minute into the second half and after a Moore bucket on the other end of the court, Smith gave USA its first lead of the night when the Chicago, Ill., native drained a trey from the top of the key with 18 minutes, 32 seconds left. Three possessions later, Starling knocked down another jumper to increase South Alabama’s lead to 27-24, but on ULM’s next possession, Ashley Wallis converted a three-point to knot things up at 27 with 16 minutes remaining.
Neither team was able to garner more than a four-point advantage on the other over the next six and a half minutes. With USA holding a 45-43 advantage, the Lady Jags took control and blew the game open with a 12-0 run. South Alabama began things with six straight free throws and then with just over four minutes remaining, Starling drained her fourth trey of the evening to give USA its first double-digit lead at 54-43. Sippio later capped off the run with a minute later with a layup to put the Jaguar women out in front by 14 (57-43).
Starling delivered the dagger to the Warhawks when the senior knocked down another trey, this one coming at the 1:21 mark to give USA a 61-45 advantage. The Tallahassee, Fla., native shook off a defender and drained a three-pointer from the right wing with the shot clock set to expire. ULM had no answer the rest of the way as USA went on to pick up the 15-point victory.
Moore helped the Warhawks jump out to the early advantage, knocking down seven of ULM’s first eight points. USA struggled to find its shooting touch as the Lady Jags missed five of their first six shots from the field. With Louisiana-Monroe leading 8-2 with just over 15 minutes to play in the opening half, Starling led the charge for the Lady Jags recording 11 of USA’s next 13 points. The senior, playing in her final regular season home game, did most of her damage from beyond the arc over the next five minutes and her three-pointer from the left wing at the 10:17 mark tied the contest up at 15.
Louisiana-Monroe regained the advantage (19-15) with a pair of back-to-back buckets with less than eight minutes to go, but over the next five minutes, both teams struggled to find the basket. The lone field goal during that stretch was on a Sippio jumper at the 6:49 mark.
After Brunner hit one of two free throws to pull South Alabama within one at 19-18 four minutes later, Starling found Sippio unguarded under the bucket for an easy layup that put USA back out in front with a minute and a half remaining in the period. The lead was short-lived though as two possessions later, Moore intercepted a Jaguar pass and raced down the court for a layup. The senior was fouled on the play and converted the bonus shot. The three-point play sent ULM into the locker room with the 22-20 advantage.
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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