MOBILE, Ala. - Behind a career-high 30 points from junior forward Christian Shelter, the University of South Alabama women's basketball team won its seventh-straight game and remained perfect in conference play with an 81-68 win over Troy Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.
"Christian (Shelter) was outstanding for us today," South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. "She is a capable shooter and every time Troy began to make some headway, it seemed like she would make a shot to just push them back. She was solid defensively, but (Troy) had trouble covering her that allowed her to get that many shots off. A lot of post players don't like extending that far from the basket on defense and tonight she definitely got a lot of looks and made a good percentage of them."
Shelter was 9-for-17 from the field - including hitting a career-best six three-pointers. The Mobile native was also a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line. The 30-point outing marked the first by a Jag since the 2005-06 season when former Jag JoAnna Williams dropped in 32 points in a 74-66 win at Denver on Jan. 26. The six three-pointers were also just one shy of tying both the Mitchell Center and school records for made treys in a game.
With the win, USA improved to 12-6 on the season and 7-0 in the Sun Belt and will now head back out on the road for a pair of league games beginning with North Texas on Wed. (Jan. 20). Tip-off versus the Mean Green is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Super Pit. Troy falls to 10-6 overall and 3-4 in the conference with the loss.
Tashley Gaines also continued her solid play off the bench for USA, recording 14 points - her ninth double-figure scoring outing of the season. Gaines was 4-for-5 from the field, and like Shelter, was a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe. As a team, the Jags were 19-for-23 at the line. Led by Gaines, South Alabama's bench outscored the Trojan reserves 33-16 - seven of the eight players recording at least one point in the win.
The Trojans placed four players in double figures led by Donette McNair's 18. Sarah McAppion added 12 points and Brittnie Davis and Sophie Kleeman chipped in with 10 points apiece.
South Alabama came out on fire early on, beginning the game with an 11-0 run over the first three-and-a-half minutes. During the run, the Jags used the long-range shot to jump out to the early lead connecting on three treys. Morriah Smith got the scoring going for USA when she drained a trey from the top of the key on USA's first possession.
Holding a 15-4 lead at the 15:15 mark, South Alabama continued its three-point barrage knocking down four more over the next four minutes to grab a 29-9 lead. Shelter - who posted 11 of the Jaguar women's first 18 points - started the 14-5 run with her third three-pointer of the half. Brittney Rutledge then capped off the scoring with trey of her own to give USA a 20-point advantage. During the scoring spurt, Sarda Peterson also hit a pair of three-pointers.
South Alabama eventually led by as many as 22 (40-18) after a Cylenthia Kennon reverse layup with just under four minutes to go in the period, but the Trojans reeled off seven unanswered points to trim the deficit to 15 on a Davis' three-pointer at the 1:06 mark.
USA quickly took back the momentum in the final minute of the half. Freshman post player Bobbi Taylor hit a pair of free throws and following a Trojan turnover, Smith banked in a jumper just inside the arc as the horn sounded. The Smith bucket sent the Jags into the locker room holding a 44-25 advantage.
Bench scoring and three-point shooting proved to be the two key stats during the first 20 minutes of play. The Jag reserves held a 22-2 scoring advantage off the bench and USA was a blistering 7-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first period of play. The South Alabama defense also forced Troy to commit 15 of their 22 turnovers in the half.
Coming out of the intermission, the Trojans hung around and narrowed the deficit to 51-38 on a McAppion jumper with 14:25 left on the clock, but on the ensuing possession, USA reeled off another 11-0 run to eventually grab its largest lead of the game at 24. Following baskets from Shelter and Vannessa Simmons, Gaines scored six-straight points for the Jags. Rutledge then hit one of her two attempts at the line to put South Alabama up 62-39 with 11-and-a-half minutes remaining.
The Trojans made a late push and got as close as 11 (79-68) after a pair of Tenia Manuel free throws with less than a minute left in regulation, but that was as close as they would get, as the Jags held on to pick up the 13-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).
NOTES: The 22-point lead in the first half marked the second-straight game that the Jaguar women have held that advantage in the opening half. The 30 points by Christian Shelter were a new career-high and the most scored by a Jag since JoAnna Williams' 32 versus Denver back on Jan. 26, 2006. Tashley Gaines' 14 points marked the ninth time this season that the sophomore guard has recorded double figures off the bench for South Alabama. The win was the seventh-straight for the Jags this season and the ninth in their last 10 games.
-- USA --
