Box Score - Middle Tennessee 60, South Alabama 39 (.pdf)
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team played well defensively in the first half and led for just the second time this season at the half, but 16 second-half turnovers led to 23 Blue Raider points and were too much as the Lady Jags dropped their Sun Belt Conference opener, 60-39 to Middle Tennessee at the Murphy Center.
“We played really well in the first half and that might be the best first half for us all year,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “In the second half, I knew we were in trouble in the first 15 seconds. We had talked in the locker room that (Middle Tennessee) was going to come out with some juice and they did. They did not expect to be down to us at halftime after beating the sixth-ranked team in the nation (Kentucky) the other day. They were down and came out ready in the second half. I had to call two time outs in the first minute of the second half and our kids just couldn’t respond to the level of intensity that Middle (Tennessee) brought. We had chances to get back into it, but we just can’t make enough baskets right now. Until we can be in a situation where we can make baskets, it’s going to be a problem for us and we are going to have to be perfect defensively every night.”
USA (7-6, 0-1 SBC) will now return home to host North Texas on Wednesday (Jan. 4) with tip-off set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center. With the win, the Blue Raiders improve to 10-5 on the year and 2-0 in the league, extending their win-streak to four.
Taylor Ammons led the Lady Jags with her fourth double-double of the season and third in her last five games with an 11 point, 16 rebound effort in the loss. Ammons was 5-of-10 from the floor and her 16 rebounds set a new career-best for the senior forward from Vicksburg, Miss. Of her 16 rebounds, 12 were on the defensive glass. Mary Nixon also chipped in with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Middle Tennessee placed four players in double figures led by Icelyn Elie’s 17 points. Elie was 5-for-8 from the floor and 5-of-11 at the foul line. She also grabbed 11 rebounds to give her her fourth double-double of the season and seventh of her career. Preseason SBC co-Player of the Year Ebony Rowe also notched her third-straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. She now has nine double-doubles this season and 25 in her two-year career.
Shanice Cason provided a spark in the second half for the Blue Raiders as she recorded all 12 of her points in the second half and finished with a career-best six steals – five of which coming in the final period of play.
MTSU led the way in two statistical categories outscoring USA 25-12 in points off turnovers and 21-7 in second-chance points. USA, which held a one-rebound advantage at the intermission, did not control the glass in the second half as Middle Tennessee out-rebounded the Lady Jags 23-8 in the second period of play. The Blue Raiders finished the game with a 45-31 advantage in that category and pulled down 18 offensive boards. South Alabama ended the game with a season-high 21 turnovers.
USA finished 16-of-31 in the game from the field for 31.5 percent, but missed all four of its three-point attempts in the second stanza. Middle Tennessee bounced back from its poorest first-half offensive performance and hit 15 of its 30 attempts in the final frame for 50 percent to end the game at 37.7 percent.
Both teams came out firing from the outside early on as five of their first six field goals from beyond the three-point line.
Rowe gave Middle Tennessee an early 11-8 advantage on a offensive put back at the 14:42 mark, but over the next four minutes, the Lady Jags rattled off seven unanswered points and reclaimed the lead. Lauren Walker drained a trey to ignite the scoring and tie the contest up at 11 less than a minute later. Ammons then knocked two-straight jumpers for USA to put the Jaguars up 15-11 with 11 minutes, 43 seconds showing on the clock.
The two clubs then traded baskets, but following Sarda Peterson’s la up at the 10:55 mark, neither team would record a field goal over the next eight minutes.
With USA struggling to find its shooting touch, Middle Tennessee had opportunities to take advantage, but the Lady Jags defense remained solid as they held the Blue Raiders without a field goal the final 11 minutes, nine seconds of the opening half. MTSU ’s only points during that stretch came out the foul line as it hit seven free throws.
South Alabama took its largest lead of the period at the 2:47 mark when Walker broke the press and found Ronneka Robertson open underneath the basket for a bucket to increase USA’s lead to 20-15.
Over the final one minute, 18 seconds, Elie would go to the charity stripe and hit three of her four attempts to trim the Jaguar advantage to 22-20.
The Blue Raiders hit just five of their 23 field goal attempts in the first half for 21.7 percent shooting – a season-low percentage – and missed 11 shots and turned the ball over five times. The two-point lead marked just the second time this season that South Alabama has led at the intermission this season.
Coming out of the locker room, the Blue Raiders turned up the defensive intensity and forced a turnover on the Lady Jags’ first possession. After three opportunities, MTSU ended a nearly 10 minute stretch without a field goal on a basket from Cason at the 19:24 mark. MTSU then forced another turnover on the ensuing possession and got another second-chance opportunity, which eventually led to a basket from Elie to once again give the Blue Raiders the lead. The two-one-two press would go on to provide multiple miscues over the next several minutes for the Lady Jags and propel a 10-0 run for Middle Tennessee.
Cason continued to provide a spark at both ends of the floor, forcing another turnover on an inbounds play and converting the conventional three-point play at the 17:38 mark. Laken Leonard capped off the run and put the Blue Raiders out in front 32-22 with a trey from the left wing.
From there, USA was never able to get the deficit under double figures as its offensive struggles and turnover issues continued. The Blue Raiders took advantage of the Jaguar mistakes and eventually stretched their lead out to as much as 29 on two occasions, before eventually picking up the 60-39 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).
NOTES: The loss was the third-straight for South Alabama, a new season-long. USA falls to 4-18 in the all-time series with Middle Tennessee with the loss. The win also marked the 16th-straigh in the series for the Blue Raiders. Rick Insell improved to 14-0 all-time against South Alabama. USA is now 15-13 in Sun Belt Conference openers and 7-5 under Rick Pietri in that same category and SBC road openers. The two-point lead for Lady Jags at the intermission marked just the second time South Alabama has led at the half this season and the first time against a Division I opponent. Spring Hill was the only other lead for USA at the break. Ammons pulled down 12 of her career-high 16 rebounds in the first half. Her previous season-best was 13 against Northwestern State (Nov. 21) and her career-best had been 14 set on two occasions. Wither her 11 points and 16 rebounds, Ammons has now recorded four double-doubles this season and three in her last five games. Sophomore forward Jennifer Johnson missed her second-straight game due to injury. USA’s two leading scorers, Mansa El and Camille Reynolds were limited to a combined five points – all recorded by El – by the Blue Raiders. The duo entered the game each averaging 11.7 ppg. Reynolds was held scoreless for the first time in her USA career. The 21.7 first-half field-goal percentage by Middle Tennessee was a new season-low for the opening period of play and the lowest since its second game of the season against Penn State (Nov. 13) where the Blue Raiders shot 27.3 percent. The 21.7 first-half shooting percentage was also the lowest by a Lady Jag opponent this season, eclipsing the previous mark of 28.1 percent by Ole Miss (Nov. 18). The 21 South Alabama turnovers were a season-high. The dual double-double performance by MTSU’s Icelyn Elie (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Ebony Rowe (12 points, 11 rebounds) marked the first time since last season’s game at Western Kentucky (Jan. 12, 2011) that an opponent had had two players post at double-double. WKU’s La Teira Owens (15 points, 16 rebounds) and Arnika Brown (10 points, 14 rebounds) were the last duo to do so. The 39 points were also the fewest scored by the Lady Jags since a 54-34 loss at Denver back on Jan. 20, 2007. The 21-point loss was also the first 20-point loss for USA since falling 63-43 last season at Denver (Feb. 20). The 17 second-half points by South Alabama tied for fewest in a 20-minute period this season and were the fewest second-half points. The previous low had been 25 recorded at Ole Miss (Nov. 18). The other 17-point 20-minute half was the first half at Mississippi State (Nov. 30).
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