Box Score - South Alabama 97, Spring Hill 46 (.pdf)

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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team set a new USA-Mitchell Center record with 13 three-pointers as the Lady Jags snapped a two-game skid and picked up a 97-46 over cross-town rival Spring Hill Wednesday evening at the Mitchell Center.  USA finished the game 13-of-31 from the arc versus the Lady Badgers.

“I’m pleased with the fact that we had so many kids do so many positive things in this game,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “Perimeter shooting has been something that we’ve always done well at South Alabama, but we haven’t been doing it well recently. We’ve been getting some good looks in games, but they just haven’t been falling for us and tonight they did. Spring Hill came out in the zone and Sarda Peterson just boom, boom, boom then Mansa El hits another one and then they had to get out of the zone. So we had a number of kids make a positive contribution in this game and so now the hope is that it can carry over into our next competitive situation.”

USA (6-3) will next host Talladega on Saturday.  Tip-off versus the Tornadoes is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.  The game counted as an exhibition for Spring Hill and does not affect the Lady Badgers' record.

South Alabama placed four players in double figures in the victory, led by Mansa El and Sarda Peterson’s 14 points apiece.  El was 5-of-9 from the floor and also dished out five assists and pulled down five rebounds.  Peterson was just as good, hitting four of her nine field goal attempts, while also registering four assists.  Both El and Peterson led USA with four three-pointers.

Taylor Ammons posted her fourth career double-double against Spring Hill as the senior forward chipped in with 10 points and pulled down 11 boards.  Lauren Walker also came off the bench to add 10 points of her own.  USA’s bench outscored Spring Hill’s reserves 45-15 in the win.  All 12 of the Lady Jags dressed out for the game saw at least eight minutes of action, with 11 of them scoring five points or better.  

For the game, USA connected on 39 of its 81 attempts from the floor for a season-best 48.1 shooting percentage.  The 41.9 percent three-point percentage was also a new high mark for South Alabama this season.  

The 21 assists by the Lady Jags were a season-high and the first 20-plus assists game by the program since recording 24 last season against Mobile (Dec. 15, 2010).  The 51-point margin of victory was also the biggest win for USA since defeating Spring Hill (72-22) in last year’s meeting.  South Alabama also pulled down 60 rebounds in a game for the second time this season, the last coming against Northwestern State (Dec. 21) when the Lady Jags grabbed a Mitchell Center-record 65.  South Alabama held a 60-22 advantage on the glass and pulled down 26 offensive boards.

Spring Hill was paced offensively by LeSheena Nation’s 15 points.  Nation was 6-of-18 from the field for the Lady Badgers, including three treys.  Jackie Higgenbotham also added 11 points, all of which coming after halftime.  

After surrendering two huge runs in each of its last two games, USA was the one to reel off a big scoring spurt during the opening minutes of the contest versus Spring Hill.  South Alabama – who had struggled offensively during the first half in all eight of its previous games – came out on fire in the opening minutes of the contest, quickly shooting the Lady Badgers out of their zone defense and jumping out to a quick 20-2 advantage.

USA missed its first shot of the game, but Mary Nixon was there to grab the rebound and put the ball back in the basket to ignite the run less than a minute into the contest.  South Alabama hit its next five shots and eight of its first 10 from the floor during the run.  Following the Nixon bucket, South Alabama did its damage from the outside as Peterson drained three-straight treys, while El added one of her own.  

Nixon added another basket towards the end of the Jaguar run and Ammons laid the ball off the glass twice, the last coming at the at the 14:48 mark of the half.

With just under nine minutes to go in the half, Veronica Cherizol’s layup put USA up 29-7, giving the Jags their most points in the first half.  The previous high had come in USA’s victory over Southern (Dec. 15) in which it had scored 28 points.  

Holding a 37-15 advantage with under six minutes to go before the intermission following a three-pointer from SHC’s Nation, South Alabama closed the half strong, ending the period on a 13-2 run to head into the locker room with a 31-point lead (50-19).

The Lady Jags went on to lead by as much as 33 twice during the first half, the last coming with 11 seconds remaining in the period on a Jennifer Johnson layup to give USA a 50-17 advantage.  

South Alabama shot a first-half season high 55.7 percent field goal percentage over the opening 20 minutes of action as it hit 20 of its 36 attempts.  USA was also 7-of-15 from long range for 46.7 percent.  All 12 of South Alabama’s players which dressed out played in the opening half and of those 11 scored at least two points – led by Peterson who had 11 points.  

USA ended any comeback hopes and put the game away as it opened the second half on a 15-3 run over the first four minutes of the period to jump out to a 65-22 advantage.  South Alabama again used the long-range shot to do its damage, connecting on three more three-pointers during the run.

After recording its best offensive half during the first 20 minutes of play, USA continued to shoot the ball well over the first several minutes of the second stanza, hitting 10 of its first 17 attempts in the period.

The Lady Jags continued to fire from outside the arc through the rest of the final period of play and Veronica Cherizol’s trey at the 10:43 mark tied the South Alabama arena record and then on USA’s next trip down the court, Walker knocked down her second three of the game to give the Jaguars a new high mark and increase their lead to 81-33.  

From there, South Alabama would cruise to the 97-46 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: South Alabama now leads the all-time series 26-3 and has won 13-straight.  USA also improves to 38-5 all-time versus teams from the Southern States Athletic Conference.  South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri is 5-0 versus Spring Hill and 6-0 versus the league.  With her four three-pointers, senior guard Sarda Peterson moved into third place by herself.  She now has 131 for her career, just 44 away from tying the program mark held by Stephanie Richardson.  The 50 first half points and the 55.6 percent shooting during the period were both the first-half season highs for the Lady Jags.  The 50-19 lead at the break marked the first time USA has led at the intermission this season.  All 12 of South Alabama’s players which dressed out played in the opening half and of those 11 scored at least two points.  Both the 48.1 field goal percentage and the 41.9 three-point percentage were season-best for USA.  The double-double for Taylor Ammons was her second of the season and fourth of her career.  Mansa El has now scored double figures in six of her last seven games for South Alabama.  The 60 rebounds marked the second 60-rebound game for South Alabama this season.  All 12 players that dressed played at least eight minutes and 11 of those scored at least five points versus Spring Hill.  It was also announced prior to the start of the game that junior forward Kierra Johnson has left the program for personal reasons.

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