DENTON, Texas - Behind Brittney James' 20 points, North Texas snapped the University of South Alabama women's basketball team's seven-game win streak and handed the Jaguars their first Sun Belt Conference defeat of the season Wednesday evening, capturing a 78-66 victory at t he Super Pit.
"We got off to a miserable start tonight," South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. "North Texas clearly wanted to win a lot more than us early in the game. We rebounded and were able to take the lead in the second half, but at the end of the day, North Texas came with a lot more fire and wanted it more. Honestly, after playing a 40-minute game against them, it is hard to believe that they haven't won more games, because they are loaded with talent."
USA (12-7, 7-1 SBC) will continue its two-game road trip on Saturday when it heads to Denver to take on the Pioneers. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) at Magness Arena. With the win, North Texas improves to 6-14 on the season and 3-6 in the league.
South Alabama's Shakira Nettles led all scorers with 21 points in the loss. Nettles was 7-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-10 from three-point range against UNT. Tashley Gaines also came off the bench to post her 10th double-figure scoring game of the season with 12 points. The sophomore also tied a career-high in rebounds with 10 - giving her her second career double-double.
Along with James' solid performance, Jasmine Godbolt added a career-high 19 and Tamara Torru chipped in with 15. Godbolt also pulled down 13 boards for her sixth double-double of the season. Torru did most of her damage from long range, as she was a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
The South Alabama offense struggled to find its rhythm during the opening 11 minutes of the first half, connecting on just one of its first 19 attempts from the floor. The Mean Green took advantage of the offensive woes by the Jags and jumped out to an 11-point lead. Dentra Kellum gave UNT the 15-4 lead with less than 11 minutes remaining in the half after a pair of baskets.
With the Mean Green still holding a nine-point advantage (22-13) after a jumper from Godbolt at the 4:42 mark, USA began to claw its way back and reeled off five-straight points over the next minute-and-a-half to cut the deficit to 22-18. With just over two minutes to go in the period, Nettles drove the lane and nailed a pull up jumper to cut the North Texas advantage to 24-22. After a Brittney Hudson trey, the senior came right back and answered with one of her own to keep the deficit at two. South Alabama had struggled from beyond the arc prior to the Nettles' three-pointer, missing its first 14 attempts.
After a free throw from Hudson at the 1:19 mark, James intercepted a Jaguar pass and at the other end of the floor hit a tough baseline jumper to stretch the North Texas advantage back out to five. On USA's next possession, Kellum was fouled going for a defensive rebound and hit one of her two attempts at the stripe.
USA was able to grab some momentum and just before the break, as Nettles drove the lane and found Morriah Smith open on the wing for the Jags' second trey, this one just beating the buzzer to pull South Alabama to within three at 31-28.
Despite the cold offensive start, the Jaguars did manage to close the first stanza strong, hitting nine of its final 16 attempts in the period.
Unlike the first half, the Jaguar offense got off to a quick start during the second 20 minutes of play and grabbed its first lead of the evening just a minute-and-a-half into the second stanza. Nettles put USA up 35-33 when the senior drained a three-pointer from the right wing at the 18:31 mark.
North Texas came right back though and took a 41-37 lead with 16 minutes, 10 seconds remaining on the clock off another James jumper. James and Kellum provided all the scoring for the Mean Green over the first six minutes of the second half, as the duo combined for all 14 of North Texas' points.
South Alabama would not go away and came right back to retake the lead (42-41) on another Nettles' trey less than a minute later. Over the next six-plus minutes, the two clubs kept things close exchanging the lead five times, with neither able to gain more than a one possession advantage on the other.
Tied at 55-55 with less than eight minutes left on the clock, North Texas' Niq'ky Hughes picked off a Jaguar pass and Godbolt raced down the court for a layup that ignited a 12-2 run for the Mean Green. Hughes and Godbolt led the run for UNT, recording all but three of the Mean Green's 12 points. Godbolt capped off t he run with a pair of free throws and gave UNT a 67-57 lead.
South Alabama's offensive woes returned down the stretch, as the Jags were unable to get any closer than eight the rest of the way, allowing North Texas to pick up the 12-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 20-point outing for Shakira Nettles was her second of the season and her ninth of her career. Nettles also sits just two points shy of tying former Jag Chanta Powell for 16th-place on South Alabama's all-time scoring chart. She currently has 1,097 for her career. With her 12 points and 10 rebounds, Tashley Gaines posted the second double-double of the season and her career. The 10 rebounds also tied a career-high for Gaines. She had previously pulled down 10 against UALR on Dec. 16, 2009. The loss was the first Sun Belt defeat of the season for South Alabama and snapped a seven-game win streak for the Jags. With the loss, USA falls to 1-8 all-time in Denton against the Mean Green.
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