Box Score - South Alabama 67, Ole Miss 60 (.pdf)

MOBILE, Ala. – After leading by as much as 20 points in the second half, the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team held off a late charge Sunday afternoon to pick up a 67-60 victory over Ole Miss at the Mitchell Center.  The win snapped a six-game skid versus the Southeastern Conference and was the first win against the league since Dec. 30, 2005 when the Lady Jags defeated Alabama, 56-48 in Mobile.

“Any time you can beat an SEC team it’s huge,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “It’s been a progression. I was disappointed in our performance against Mississippi State, in the second half of that game. Against Florida, I saw some improvement, although we lost. At Auburn, I was a one-possession game late. We’ve made progress against this caliber opponent. Now it was time for us to win one. Fortunately, our team responded to that challenge and we were able to win one today against a talented, though young, Ole Miss team.”

USA (4-4) will now host cross-town rival Spring Hill on Wednesday night with tip-off set for 7:05 p.m.

Christian Shelter led the Lady Jags with 19 points, all coming during the first period of play.  Shelter was 7-of-18 from the floor in the win, including 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. 

“Christian (Shelter) had a phenomenal first half,” Pietri said.  “(Ole Miss) is a zone team. That’s what they do. That’s their trademark. We’ve got a lot of kids that can shoot it and it’s hard to respect everybody on the perimeter in a zone. Christian was able to get free and she hit, virtually, everything when she was open. Clearly, at halftime, they made a decision to extend their zone and cover up some things a little better. When that happened, the other kids stepped up and made plays early in the second half. I think what happened late in the second half was that they made a little charge at us and it got tight. We still had some decent looks, but we weren’t putting them down. We got a little tight and it fed the momentum of the run that they began.”

Brittney Rutledge and Lauren Walker also finished in double-figures for South Alabama.  Taylor Ammons just missed recording her first double-double of the season as she had nine points and pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds. 

Two important stat categories for the Lady Jags in the victory were at the free throw line and the three-point line.  USA was 13-for-16 at the charity stripe and hit a season-high 12 treys. 

Ole Miss (5-3) held a huge advantage in the paint, outscoring South Alabama 30-8.  The Rebels received a career-high 29 points from senior guard Kayla Melson.  Melson was 12-of-22 from the field and of her 29 points, 20 came after the intermission and after the loss of leading scorer Valencia McFarland who left the game with a shoulder injury after committing a charge with 13 minutes 42 seconds remaining.  McFarland entered the game averaging 15 points per game.

Pa’Sonna hope also finished in double digits for Ole Miss with 12 points and seven rebounds. 

After shooting 40 percent in the first half, USA connected on just 29.6 percent of its attempts in the second stanza, finishing 21-of-59 for 35.6 percent for the game.  Ole Miss was 22-for-55 for 40 percent for the contest.

Led by three treys from Shelter, South Alabama jumped out to an early three-point advantage a little over three minutes into the game, but after a LaTosha Laws basket and back-to-back buckets from Melson, the Rebels held an 11-9 lead with 15 minutes 33 seconds remaining in the first period of play.

A little over a minute later, the Lady Jags quickly erased the deficit an erupted on a 10-0 run to retake the lead.  During the Jaguar run, Brittney Rutledge and Christian Shelter combined for five points apiece.  Shelter was on fire during the opening minutes of the game, knocking down seven of her first eight shots from the floor, including five three-pointers.  

Hope’s basket at the 11:54 mark narrowed Ole Miss’ deficit to 19-15, but over the next eight minutes, South Alabama used another big run, this one a 17-4 spurt.  Vannessa Simmons provided a spark off the bench for the Lady Jags and ignited the run with a pair of baskets.  Simmons drained a 12-foot jumper to start the scoring and then on the Rebels ensuing possession, she intercepted a pass and went coast-to-coast for a layup.  Lauren Walker then drained a couple of three-pointers of her own to increase USA’s lead out to 12 (29-17).  With under five minutes to go in the half, Shelter connected on two more shots and Ammons converted a pair of free throws at the 4:02 mark to give the Jags their largest lead of the period, 36-19.

Ole Miss held South Alabama scoreless over the remainder of the half, but the Lady Jags headed into the locker room with a 36-22 advantage.  For the first half, USA was 13 for 32 from the field for 40.6 percent shooting.  The Lady Jags also connected on eight treys during the first 20 minutes of play.  The Rebels were 10-of-28 from the floor for 35.7 percent shooting and missed all six of their attempts from long range.

USA quickly stretched its lead out to 20 points, reeling off seven of the first nine points of the half.  Sarda Peterson drained the Lady Jags’ 10th three-pointer of the game, this one coming from the right corner and then Ammons dropped in a basket of her own with 17 minutes, 21 seconds remaining to give USA the 44-24 advantage.

Trailing, Ole Miss turned to its defense and began to chip away.  After play a zone for most of the game, the Rebels went into a man-to-man defense and extended its pressure out, forcing the Lady Jags to use a lot of clock before getting into their offense.

With South Alabama leading 49-30 after Walker’s third trey of the night with 15 minutes, 49 second s left in regulation, Ole Miss began to mount its rally attempt.  Over the next five minutes, the Rebels narrowed the gap to 12 (51-39) with a 9-2 scoring spurt.  Melson led the way during the run with six of UM’s nine points. 

After a pair of Ammons free throws and a Mansa El three-pointer to stretch USA’s lead back out to 17 (56-39) at the 9:33 mark, Melson Courtney Marbra sparked another run for the Rebels, combining for Ole Miss’ next 16 points.  Melson took over down the stretch and after three-straight baskets, South Alabama’s lead had evaporated down to 61-55 with over four minutes remaining. 

“When (Valencia) McFarland, who is a heck of a player, went down Kayla Melson just took over,” Pietri said of Melson’s second-half effort.  “She literally took the game over and we didn’t have anybody who could do anything about it. That’s why we went to zone and we don’t zone. We went to a zone because we just couldn’t guard her. She literally imposed her will.”

Struggling from the field, the Lady Jags turned to their free throw shooting during the final minute as Ammons and Rutledge hit six of their eight attempts at the stripe to preserve the win.  Laws banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the final margin of victory for the Jags, 67-60.

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).