Box Score - South Alabama 69, Southern  38

BATON ROUGE, La. – A strong defensive performance over the final 10 minutes of the first half and three-point shooting helped the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team cruise to a 69-38 road victory Friday evening over Southern University at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

“We definitely played a great first half in terms of responding to our instructions on how to manage Southern’s matchup zone,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “We made a few mistakes early, but overcame them quickly and had a great end to the first half.  In the second half, against a championship team in their home opener, I expected Southern to make a charge and they did.  The good news is that every time they did, somebody on our team stepped up and made a play. 

USA (2-1) will now return home to host the first four Southeastern Conference opponents when the Lady Jags welcome Mississippi State to the Mitchell Center.  Tip-off versus the Bulldogs is set for Tuesday (Nov. 23) at 7:05 p.m.  Southern falls to 1-2 with the loss.

Christian Shelter led all players with 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting and also pulled down five rebounds for the Lady Jags.  Shelter was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. 

“The great thing about Christian tonight was not only did she make shots for us, but she played physically,” Pietri said.  “She made plays defensively and she was just a great presence in all phases of the game for us tonight.”

As a team, South Alabama connected on nine of its 22 attempts from beyond the arc for 40.9 percent.  USA’s defense also held Southern to a dismal 3-for-19 performance from long range for just 15.8 percent shooting and just 20.9 percent shooting overall.

Sarda Peterson also finished the night in double-digits with 13 points.  Peterson was 4-of-11 from the field, including connecting on a pair of treys.  Siedah Banks added seven points and eight assists for the Jags.  Banks has now recorded five or more assists in all three of South Alabama’s games this season. 

Taylor Ammons and Ronneka Robertson led the way on the glass each pulling down seven boards.  The 58 rebounds by the Lady Jags were a season-high and marked the second-straight game of grabbing 50 or more. 

Southern was paced offensively by Hannah Kador’s 14 points, 11 coming in the second half.

After shooting 55 percent from beyond the arc on Tuesday night against Southern Miss, the Lady Jags continued to use the long-range.  Of South Alabama’s first five field goals, four came from three-point range and including a trey by Shelter at the 15:33 mark that gave USA an early 11-5 advantage

The Lady Jags kept things going and following a layup from Laniesha Stephens with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first period of play, Ammons knocked down a jumper in the lane that ignited an 11-0 run for South Alabama.  Shelter then drained her second trey of the half, this one from the right corner and knocked down a pair of free throws four USA.  Following a free throw from Ammons, Banks intercepted a Southern pass and drove the length of the floor, finding Ammons open under the basket for a layup to give USA a 21-7 lead at the 11:50 mark.

With 10 minutes, 28 seconds left before the intermission and the shot clock winding down, Tiffany Foster’s three-pointer from the top of the key pulled Southern to within 13 (25-12), but that’s when the Lady Jag defense tightened up.  Over the remainder of the half, South Alabama held Southern to 0-of-14 shooting from the field and forced six turnovers.  During that stretch, USA took advantage and out-scored Southern 21-8 and headed into the locker room with a 42-15 lead.

Over the first 20 minutes of play, South Alabama knocked down 41.4 percent of its shoots, including 45.5 percent from the arc.  Conversely, USA’s defense held Southern to just five field goals and 14.7 percent shooting in the first half.

USA maintained its halftime margin over the first five-plus minutes of the second half and Shelter again led the charge as the senior drained a three-pointer at the 14:30 mark to extend its lead out to 51-21.  Holding the big lead though, South Alabama got a little sloppy over the next six minutes and allowed Southern to get back into the game.  During that stretch, SU rattled off a 16-5 run and narrowed its deficit to 19 (56-37) on an old-fashioned three-point play by Kador at the 8:10 mark, but from there USA again closed strong.  Over the final eight minutes, the Lady Jags held Southern to just one point and held on to take the 31-point victory.

The 38 points allowed are the fewest surrendered by the Lady Jags to an opponent since giving up just 39 to Troy on March 7, 2009 in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

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).