MOBILE, Ala. - Shakira Nettles' third 20-point game of the season was not enough Wednesday evening as the University of South Alabama women's basketball team fell 62-50 to Florida International at the Mitchell Center.
"The pure and honest truth is that Shakira Nettles, who has been struggling as of late, finally broke out and had a nice game," South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. "It wasn't a perfect game. It wasn't an error-free game, but it was a nice game. We just had nobody on our team to compliment her. Lauren Walker hit two big three's in the first half and Shaniece (Brunner) made a couple plays near the goal in the second half, but as a team, we weren't able to finish off some decent looks ."
USA (13-12, 8-6 SBC) will close out its three-game home stand on Saturday when the Jaguar women host Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5:05 p.m. With the win, the Golden Panthers improve to 12-13 on the season and 7-7 in league play.
Nettles was 7-of-14 from the field and led South Alabama with 20 points. The senior was also 4-of-6 at the free throw line and pulled down a season-high eight rebounds. Christian Shelter was the only other Jag to record double figure, ending the night with 10 points.
FIU's Elisa Carey led all scorers and tied a career-high with her 26-point outing. Carey was 7-for-10 from the field, but did most of her damage at the foul line. The junior forward was 12-of-13 at the stripe and over the past two games, has now hit 22 of her last 23 from the line. Michelle Gonzalez (12) and Monika Bosilj (10) also finished in double figures for the Golden Panthers.
"Elisa Carey just went off on us at the end," Pietri said. "They shoot it well enough on the perimeter that you have to be careful about how deep you come in to get the ball out so they're not standing still, wide open, on the perimeter. I think our kids got, unfortunately, too conscious of perimeter and not conscious enough of trying to get it out of Carey's hands and make somebody else make a play. The other players are capable of making those plays, but at that point, we just needed to see if those other players could. We just didn't do it."
Like Middle Tennessee had done in the Jags' last game, Florida International came out hot from the outside, knocking down three three-pointers over the first five minutes of play. Gonzalez's trey from the top of the key at the 15:08 mark gave the Golden Panthers an 11-5 advantage. Nettles kept the Jags in the game early, recording seven of USA's first 11 points.
Trailing 17-11 after a bucket from Carey at t he 10:37 mark, USA rattled off seven-straight points to take its first lead of the night. Banks drained a baseline jumper to get the scoring started. Shaniece Brunner then cut the deficit to two with a put back and on the ensuing possession, found Lauren Walker open in the left corner for a three-pointer to give the Jags an 18-17 lead with a little over nine minutes left on the clock.
The lead was short-lived though as Gonzalez came right back down and hit a 12-foot jumper put FIU back on top by one.
The two teams went scoreless over the next three-plus minutes until Walker again had the touch from long range, this time igniting a 13-5 scoring spurt over the next seven minutes. Walker drained her second trey of the half from the right corner with five minutes, 30 seconds left on the clock to begin the run. Shelter then scored seven of USA's next nine points and Nettles gave the Jags their largest lead of the night at 33-24 with a pair of free throws with less than three minutes to go before intermission.
On FIU's next possession, Carey nailed a jumper in the lane and with under two minutes to go. Gonzalez then drained her second trey of the half to cut the deficit to four (33-29). That is where the two clubs would stand going into the half.
In the second half, Florida International used the late momentum that it had gained to close the first half and opened up with a 12-3 run over the first five minutes. Carey provided the offensive spark during the run, posting six points over the first five minutes and gave the Golden Panthers a 41-36 lead with just under 15 to go after sinking another jumper in the lane.
South Alabama didn't help its cause any, as the Jags were only able to hit one of their first nine shots from the field in the period - the lone basket coming from Nettles.
With FIU still leading by five (45-40) after a pair of Carey free throws at the 12:04 mark, Nettles attempted to lead the Jaguar women back. Over the next two-and-a-half minutes, the senior recorded six of USA's eight points. After hitting one of two at the line, Nettles found Brunner cutting to the basket for a layup. She then tied the contest up at 45-45 with a layup. After two more free throws from Carey, Nettles converted a conventional three-point play at the 9:47 mark to give South Alabama a 49-48 advantage.
As was the case for most of the second stanza though, FIU attacked the post feeding the ball to Carey, who ignited a 9-0 run for the Golden Panthers with seven-straight points. Carey's bucket at the six minute mark capped off a string of 14 consecutive points for the post player. Bosilj then capped off the 9-0 run with a three-pointer from the right wing on FIU's next possession to put the Golden Panthers up 56-48.
USA got only as close as six (56-50) before Florida International stretched the final margin of victory out to 12.
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 was the third of the season and 10th of her career for USA's Shakira Nettles. The loss snapped a five-game win-streak by the Jags in the series. FIU's Elisa Carey tied a career-high with her 26 points. With her 12-for-13 performance at the foul line, Carey has now hit 22 of her last 23 attempts at the free throw line in the past two games.
-- USA --
