Box Score - Florida International 48, South Alabama 43

MIAMI – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team battled back several times, but shot a season-low 28.1 percent from the field which proved to be too much as Florida International held on to pick up a 48-43 Sun Belt Conference victory at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

“We defended well enough to win the game, but we didn’t get enough critical rebounds and we just didn’t put the ball in the basket when we had pretty solid opportunities to do so,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “(FIU) zoned us almost every possession until the final two minutes.  Their zone really kept us around the perimeter where we had some openings, but we also had some openings at 14-feet, at 15-feet and at 17-feet.  We just couldn’t but it in the basket.  When we got offensive rebounds, their size inside prevented us from putting it back in when we got the offensive rebound.”

USA (9-7, 1-3 SBC) will now return home to begin a stretch of three-straight home games, beginning with Western Kentucky on Wednesday.  Tip-off versus the Lady Toppers is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center. With the win, FIU improves to 6-11 overall and 1-2 in the Sun Belt.

Christian Shelter and Sarda Peterson led USA offensively with nine points apiece, but the duo who entered the contest ranked among the conference’s leaders in three-point shooting were just a combined 6-for-20 from the arc in the loss.  As a team, USA was 11-for-30 from three-point range, but just 6-for-27 from inside the arc.

FIU was paced offensively by Rakia Rodgers, Elisa Carey and Jerica Coley who each had eight points.  Carey also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.  The Golden Panthers held a 42-33 advantage on the glass and an 18-10 advantage on points in the paint.

As it has been for the Lady Jags over the past few games, USA got off to a slow start offensively to begin the game, hitting just four of its first 14 shots from the floor.  The Golden Panthers were efficient early on, connecting on six of their first 10 shots to jump out to an early five-point advantage (13-8) with a little over seven minutes played in the contest.

Coley’s three-pointer from the left wing at the 8:39 mark of the first half snapped a nearly four minute scoreless streak for both clubs and put FIU out in front 16-10.  On the Lady Jags’ ensuing possession though, Miami native Veronica Cherizol answered back with a trey of her own.  That however would be the last basket for USA over the next three-and-a-half minutes as the Jaguars continued to struggle from the field.

The Golden Panthers took advantage of the South Alabama drought and quickly extended their lead out to 22-13.  Michelle Gonzalez gave FIU the nine-point advantage when the senior stole the ball and laid the ball off the glass with five minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the half. 

Banks ended the Panther run when the senior point guard knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner at the 4:41 mark, but after buckets from Finda Mansare and Carmen Miloglav, Florida International held its largest lead of the period at 26-16 with just under four minutes remaining. 

With one minute, 10 seconds on the clock, Shelter connected on her second trey of the half and pulled USA to within seven.  South Alabama had a chance to chip away even further into the FIU lead but USA could not hit the front end of the one-and-one opportunity with under a minute to play in the stanza.  Florida International grabbed the rebound and with time winding down, Gonzalez came off a screen and drained a trey just as the horn sounded to send the Golden Panthers into the locker room with a 29-19 lead.

USA could not find its rhythm during the opening 20 minutes of play as the Lady Jags were able to hit just seven of their 29 attempts from the floor for 24.1percent.  Both the first-half field goal percentage and the 19 points were season lows for South Alabama.  FIU on the other hand was 120for-29 from the field for 41.4 percent.

South Alabama turned to its three-point shooting and defense to begin the second half.  After an empty possession to begin the period, Peterson knocked down two-straight treys and Shelter then cut the deficit to 29-28 when the Mobile native.  

The Lady Jag defense also held the Golden Panthers without a field goal and forced six turnovers the first nine-and-a-half minutes of the final period of play.  The only point scored by Florida International over that stretch was a free throw from Carey.

Following Shelter’s trey to cut the deficit to one at the 16:07 mark, USA had several chances to either tie the game or take the lead over the next five minutes, but the Lady Jags couldn’t take advantage as they missed seven-straight shots and turned the ball over three times.

With less than 10 minutes to go in regulation, Vannessa Simmons hit her second three-pointer of the night to again trim the Golden Panthers’ lead to 32-31.

Holding the one-point lead, FIU’s Fani Hutlassa knocked down a three-pointer of her own from the left wing that ignited a 9-2 run over the next five minutes to stretch the Golden Panthers’ lead out to double-figures.  Both Hutlassa and Coley had five points during the run and Gonzalez found Rodgers open for a layup at the 4:23 mark to put FIU up 44-33.

USA was able to make one more surge as Peterson connected on her third three-pointer of the night on the Lady Jags next possession to ignite a 10-0 run for the Lady Jags.  Following a Taylor Ammons bucket, Siedah Banks knocked down a long-range shot of her own with two minutes, 11 seconds on the clock.  After a pair of missed free throw opportunities by FIU’s Gonzalez, USA again pulled to within one (44-43) on a layup from Banks.

That would be the final points for South Alabama though as the Golden Panthers recorded the final four points and held on for the five-point win.

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 loss to Florida International snapped a four-game win-streak versus the Golden Panthers in Miami.  The 43 points tied a season low recorded by the Lady Jags against in their 56-43 loss to Mississippi State (Nov. 23).  It also marked the fewest points scored by South Alabama in a Sun Belt game a 54-34 loss at Denver back on Jan. 20, 2007.