Box Score - South Alabama 61, Utah 53 (.pdf)

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – For the second-straight night, the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team had a player come off the bench to spark a second-half rally as Jennifer Johnson posted a career-high 20 points Saturday in the Lady Jags’ 61-53 victory over Utah on the final day of the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic held at the Convocation Center.

“This was a great win for us,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “To be able to beat a Pac 12 and BCS opponent like Utah, who has a deep tradition in women’s basketball, is a huge win for us and our program.  Jennifer Johnson was outstanding at finishing plays and making plays for us offensively.  We had a bunch of different kids step up in the second half for us – Mansa El, Mary Nixon.  Lauren Walker also hit a big shot for us.  Everybody involved, particularly in the second half, just gave so much energy at both ends of the floor.  I couldn’t be more proud and pleased with this team.”

Johnson – who recorded 15 of her 20 points in the final period of play – ended the night 7-of-15 from the field, including 3-for-7 from beyond the arc.  She also pulled down five rebounds and recorded two steals and a block in 23 minutes of action.  

For their play at the tourney, both Johnson and Camille Reynolds were selected to the all-tournament team.

USA (5-1) will next head to Starkville, Miss., to take on Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State on Wednesday (Nov. 30).  Tip-off versus the Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum.

The 5-1 start for the Lady Jags is the first since opening the 2008-09 season.  The victory versus Utah is also the first for the program over a Pac 12 Conference.  USA had been winless in its previous four attempts.  

Mansa El also ended the night in double figures for South Alabama as the red-shirt junior had 10 points and three assists.  El has recorded 10 points in three of her last four games.

Utah (2-3) was led offensively by Iwalani Rodrigues’ 13 points.  Taryn Wicijowski also chipped in with 12 points and a game high seven rebounds.  

As a team, South Alabama shot a season-best 41.3 percent from the field in the victory.  The Lady Jags were 19-of-46 from the floor and 5-of-14 from the three-point line.  USA’s best offensive production came in the second half as the Jaguars were 10-for-21 from the floor for 47.6 percent, also a season-high.  As has been the case throughout this season, South Alabama turned up the defensive intensity in the second half, holding the Utes to 22 points.  After allowing Utah to shoot 52.2 percent in the first period of play, USA held the Utes to just 30.4 percent shooting (7-of-23) in the second half.

Two key stats in the win for South Alabama came at the charity stripe and in the offensive production for the Jaguar reserves.  USA was 18-of-27 at the foul line and the USA reserves outscored Utah’s reserves, 37-9.  The Lady Jags’ bench has been sold all season, holding an advantage in that category in all but one game.

Both clubs came out cold to start the game as neither was able to score over the first three minutes of the contest.  Sarda Peterson was the first to end the scoreless drought when the senior knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key with just under 17 minutes showing on the clock.  After a Utah layup on the ensuing possession, El connected from downtown a minute later to give USA a 6-2 advantage.  

With USA later leading by three (11-8) at the 12:49 mark after a Camille Reynolds jumper, Utah was able to take its first lead of the afternoon  after back-to-back buckets from Michelle Plouffe, the second coming on a layup with 11 minutes to go in the half.  The two Plouffe baskets were also the start of a 10-2 Ute run over a five minute stretch.  Utah later grabbed a 20-13 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the period after a pair of treys from Cheyenne Wilson and Chelsea Bridgewater.  

Coming out of the media time out, Reynolds knocked down another jumper just inside the arc to end the Utah run and provide a little bit of a spark to the Lady Jags.  USA then trapped Plouffe at mid-court and Jennifer Johnson was able to knock the ball away from Plouffe and go the length of the court for the basket to trim the deficit to three (20-17) at the 6:43 mark of the first stanza.

With just over five minutes to go before the intermission, Mary Nixon drove the lane for a layup to cute the Utah lead to 23-19, but that would be the last points for South Alabama over the next four minutes as USA would turn the ball over four of its next five possessions.  

Utah took advantage of the Jaguar miscues and reeled off eight unanswered points to take its largest lead of the period at 31-19.  Rodrigues spurred on the run, as she registered six of Utah’s eight points during the run, including the last two on a foul-line jumper to give the Utes the 12-point advantage at the 1:31 mark.

Peterson ended the scoreless streak for the Jags with a pair of free throws with just over a minute to go, and on USA’s next possession, Johnson drained a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 31-24.  

Utah was very efficient in the opening period of play, knocking down 12 of its 23 attempts from the field.  

Coming out of the locker room, the Utes continued to hold the momentum and eventually stretched their lead out to 37-29 with 16 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the game after a pair of Plouffe free throws.  

That is when J. Johnson stepped up and took over for the Lady Jags as the sophomore recorded eight-straight points for USA over the next five minutes.  Johnson began the run with a pair of free throws and then did her damage in the paint, knocking down three-straight field goals in the paint.  With just over 12 minutes to go in the contest, Ronneka Robertson gave USA its first lead since early in the first half when the sophomore muscled in a shot underneath the basket to give South Alabama the 39-37 lead.  

Later in the period with USA leading 41-39 after a pair of free throws from Reynolds, Utah began to battle back and retook the lead.  Leading by one with nine-and-a-half minutes remaining, Rachel Messer found Cheyenne Willson open for a jumper.  Two minutes later Messer was fouled while attempting a three-pointer.  Messer went to the line and knocked down all three of her attempts to give Utah a 49-43 advantage at the 7:38 mark.

 South Alabama would not roll over as Johnson again stepped up and hit another big trey 18 seconds later to trim the deficit to three.  Then after El hit one of her two attempts at the free-throw line, Lauren Walker tied the contest back up at 49-49 with two free throws of her own with less than seven minutes remaining.  A minute later, Johnson drained another three-pointer to again put USA up by three (52-49) and cap off a 9-0 Jaguar run.

Rodrigues later tied the contest back up at 53-53 at the 3:00 mark with her second long-range shot of the game, but that would be the last points for the Utes as South Alabama would close out the game on an 8-0 run.

Following the Rodrigues trey, El came down on USA’s next possession and hit a jumper from the left side of the floor.  The Lady Jag defense then forced a Utah turnover and Nixon hit a jumper of her own with one minute, 41 seconds showing on the clock to give USA a 57-53 lead.  South Alabama’s final four points of the game would come at the charity stripe as USA went on to take the eight-point victory.  

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).

UTSA Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
Shareta Brown, Detroit
Judy Jones, UTSA
Michelle Plouffe, Utah
Jennifer Johnson, South Alabama
Camille Reynolds, South Alabama

NOTES: With the win, South Alabama improves to 1-0 in the all-time series versus Utah.  USA is now 1-4 all-time versus Pac 12 opponents.  The win was also the first for USA versus a BCS opponent since the Jaguars defeated Ole Miss last season.  The 5-1 start for the Lady Jags is the first since opening the 2008-09 season.  For the sixth time in as many games this season, South Alabama trailed at the half.  South Alabama has held its opponents to a combined 120 points in the second half for a 20.0 ppg average.  The Lady Jags have outscored their opponents 31.8-20.0 in its six games.  Only Utah (30.4) and UTSA (31.8) have shot over 30 percent in the second half versus USA this season.  The 20 points by Jennifer Johnson were a new career-high for the sophomore.  Johnson registered 15 of her 20 points in the second half.  USA’s Mansa El has now scored 10 points in three of her last four games.  The 14 three-point attempts by South Alabama were the fewest by the Jags this season.  Both the 47.6 second-half field goal percentage and the 41.3 field goal percentage were season-best for USA.  South Alabama is now 146-38 when holding opponents under 60 points during head coach Rick Pietri’s tenure.  The eight-point victory is the smallest margin of victory or the Jaguars this season.

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