South Alabama 57, Southern 44 (pdf.)
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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season Tuesday night with a 57-44 victory over Southern University at the Mitchell Center. For the second-consecutive game, the Lady Jags trailed in the second half, but found a way to rally back and pick up the victory.
“I think Southern is pretty good,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “They’re very long and athletic. (Southern head coach)Sandi (Pugh) does a very good job – it’s a championship program. They won the SWAC last year. I think they have the pieces to win the SWAC again this year. They had kids who could make plays. She had a lot of new, gifted players, so I’ve got a lot of respect for Southern and the things they did in our building tonight.”
USA will now head out on the road for the first time this season when the Lady Jags head to Oxford, Miss., to take on SEC foe Ole Miss. Tip-off versus the Rebels is set for 4:30 p.m.
Camille Reynolds once again came off the bench to lead South Alabama offensively with 14 points – all of which came in the second half – on 6-of-8 shooting. She was also 2-for-2 from the three-point line, with four rebounds and three assists. True freshman Breanna Hall also came off the Jaguar bench to provide a spark as she added eight points, including two three-pointers.
”Individually, Camille Reynolds, who had such a great game the other night, I think pressed a bit in the first half, but in the second half, boy, she was good – she really got us going,” Pietri said. “In terms of newcomers, Breanna Hall came in and hit two big baskets for us late. The thing we’ve learned about her is that she’s a winner, she competes. There was a stretch in practice where her team was winning on a regular basis, no matter who was playing with her. She’s not afraid of a moment to make a play. She’s not immune to struggling, because she struggled in the first half, but in the second half, she made some pivotal plays to put us in a position to win.”
As they did in the UCF game, the Lady Jag reserves played a huge part in the victory as they outscored Southern’s reserves 31-6. USA was 8-of-20 (40.0) from long range for the game and 23-of-62 from the field (37.1).
Southern (1-1) placed three players in double figures in the victory led by Jamie Floyd’s 12 points and 12 rebounds. Essence Hopkins and Adrian Sanders also chipped in with 11 points apiece.
While Southern shot 32.7 percent from the floor for the game, the Lady Jag defense held SU to just 5-of-21 shooting (23.8 percent) in the second half. USA also forced 14 of Southern’s 21 turnovers in the final period of play.
After being out rebounded in the first half, South Alabama did a better job on the boards in the second period of play as they held a 19-13 advantage on the glass.
The Lady Jags led by four early on in the first half after Taylor Ammons found Cylenthia Kennon cutting to the basket for an easy layup with just over 15 minutes remaining in the period. Southern, however found its shooting touch from the outside a couple minutes later as Adrian Sanders knocked down a three-pointer from the left win at the 13:12 mark. After a South Alabama basket from Ronneka Robertson, Southern took its first lead of the night on a trey from Kendra Coleman, this one from the opposite wing on the Jaguars’ next trip down the floor.
The lead was short-lives as USA quickly retook a three point lead at 16-13 with less than 12 to go on layups from Kierra Johnson and Veronica Cherizol. SU wouldn’t go away and reclaimed the lead themselves (17-16) after back-to-back baskets from Essence Hopkins. Hopkins knocked down a jumper in the lane with 10 minutes, 18 seconds showing on the clock and on the Jaguars’ next possession, hit a jumper just inside the arc to give Southern the one-point advantage.
A little over a minutes later, South Alabama once again reclaimed the lead, this time using the three-point shot. Hall drained a deep trey from the right wing at the 8:18 mark to give USA a two-point advantage. On USA’s next trip down the court, Jennifer Johnson connected from long range to give the Lady Jags their largest lead of the period at 22-17.
Once again though, Southern came right back and quickly tied the contest back up. With just over seven minutes remaining in the half, Laneisha Stephens knocked down a 14-foot jumper in the lane and Coleman then registered her second trey of the half to knot things up at 22-22 at the 6:25 mark.
Over the remainder of the half, the two clubs would remain close with USA holding a two-point advantage three times, but unable to extend it any further. With the period tied at 28-28 with under 10 seconds remaining in the half, Floyd grabbed a missed shot for the Jaguars – one of her seven boards in the first 20-minutes of play – and hit a layup. South Alabama had a chance to tie just before the half, but Mansa El’s jumper was blocked by SU’s Lechell Rush.
The key stat from the first period of play was in the rebounding department where Southern held a 24-15 advantage. Of the 24 boards by the Jaguars, 19 came at the defensive end. USA only recorded four offensive rebounds.
Southern pushed its lead out to 33-28 early in the second period of play after three-points from Sanders, but as she did on Saturday against Central Florida, Reynolds provided a spark to the Lady Jags offense off the bench. With USA trailing by five with under 18 minutes to go, Reynolds banked in a 12-foot jumper from the left side of the lane. That basket was the first for the junior guard as she had missed her first two shots and been held scoreless over the first 22 minutes of the game. The bucket was also the first of nine-straight points for the Rathdrum, Idaho, native as she hit two more buckets from inside the arc and then drained a trey from the left wing with 14 minutes, 12 seconds showing on the clock to give South Alabama a 37-33 advantage.
Coming out of the first media time out of the half though, Southern again tied the contest up (37-37) after baskets from Floyd and Rush with 12-and-a-half minutes remaining. On the ensuing USA possession, Ammons’ putback again put the Lady Jags back out in front by two – a lead they would hold the rest of the way.
Over the next several minutes, the two clubs struggled to find any offense.
Hall ended a four-and-a-half minute scoreless streak for South Alabama when the Mesquite, Texas, native drained a trey with less than seven minutes to go. On USA’s next trip down the floor, Hall knocked down another jumper, this one just inside the arc to increase the Lady Jags advantage to 44-39. A minute later, Reynolds came off a screen on the right side of the floor and drove to the basket for an easy layup, capping off a 7-2 spurt and giving USA a seven point lead at 46-39 at the 5:17 mark.
SU’s Hopkins ended a six-minute drought for the Jaguars with an old-fashioned three-point play.
Southern would get as close as four twice down the stretch, the last coming at the 3:07 mark after a jumper from Hopkins, but they would get no closer as South Alabama closed out the game with the final nine points to take the 57-44 victory. Senior guard Sarda Peterson put the game away when she connected from the left corner with under a minute to play.
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: With the win, South Alabama has won three-straight in the all-time series and now leads it 13-3. USA is also a perfect 9-0 in Mobile against Southern. Head coach Rick Pietri improves to 10-2 all-time versus Southern and 17-4 against the SWAC. The Lady Jags have now trailed at the intermission in both their wins. USA’s bench has outscored its opponents’ reserves 80-23 this season. Camille Reynolds is now 6-of-7 from the three-point line this season. Wither her one three-pointer versus Southern, Sarda Peterson is now one career three-pointer away from tying Metta Christensen for fifth-place all-time.
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