Box Score - South Alabama 79, North Texas 61 (.pdf)

DENTON, Texas – After trailing by one at the break, the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team used a dominant second-half effort Thursday evening to capture a 79-61 victory over North Texas at the Super Pit.  In the final period of play, USA outscored the Mean Green 43-24 and held a 28-12 advantage on the glass.

“I just think that in the first half, while we were able to score some points, we suffered through some of the ailments that we have had, which just not the right energy or intensity,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “We talked about that at half time and our kids responded.  Siedah Banks did a fantastic job of running the point in the second half and after really struggling in the first half, Christian Shelter made some plays for us offensively.  We also defended (North Texas) well enough to hold them at bay.  They still made some shots here and there, but we made enough offensive plays that at the end of the day, it didn’t make a difference.  I feel really good for our team in the fact that we were able to break through and win a road game.  The barrier of the road lately has almost been more significant to us than our opponent.  The fact that we were able to do this now is very significant for us as we move forward.”

USA (15-10, 7-7 SBC) will now head to Denver to take on the Pioneers in its final regular-season road game.  Tip-off versus DU is set for 4:30 (CT) on Sunday at Magness Arena.  North Texas falls to 5-20 on the year and 2-10 in the league with the loss.

The win ended a four-game SBC road skid for the Jags and marked the first in Denton versus UNT since the 2003-04 season.  The 79 points also ended a streak of being held below 50 points on the road for South Alabama.

Leading the way offensively in the second half for the Lady Jags was Christian Shelter – who posted 16 of her season-high 23 points in the period. 

“I have been struggling recently with my outside shot, so my coaches were telling me to just take the ball to the basket,” the senior forward said of her second-half adjustments.  “We just wanted to focus on taking the ball to the basket and finish plays.  This win was very important for us tonight, because we had been 1-5 on the road in conference this season, so getting a road victory was really good for us.  Last year, we came here and didn’t really play to well, so this was a game that we really needed to win.”

Shelter also pulled down a career-best 13 rebounds and recorded her second career double-double.  Sarda Peterson and Siedah Banks also finished in double digits with 13 points apiece.  The double figure scoring effort for Banks was the senior’s fourth in her last five games.

South Alabama held a huge advantage in two other categories in the victory.  The Lady Jags outscored the Mean Green 42-16 in the paint and held a 21-6 advantage in second-chance points.  USA also controlled the glass, out rebounding UNT 56-36.  North Texas had entered the contest leading the Sun Belt on the glass pulling down 42 boards per game. The 56 rebounds marked the fourth time this season and the first since pulling down 53 versus Spring Hill (Dec. 8) that USA has eclipsed the 50 rebound mark.

Dentra Kellum paced the Mean Green with 18 points, while Jasmine Godbolt had 10 points.  In what proved to be a key stat throughout the game, especially in the first half for North Texas, Godbolt was just 2-of-13 at the foul line.  As a team, UNT finished just 10-for-25 at the charity stripe. 

The Mean Green came out hot to start the contest, jumping out to a 7-0 lead during the opening minutes of the game.  USA’s Brittney Rutledge finally put the Lady Jags on the board when the senior drained a three-pointer from the left wing at the 17:06 mark.  The Rutledge bucket also began an 11-1 run for South Alabama over the next two-plus minutes.  Taylor Ammons’ offensive put back gave USA its first lead of the evening and on the Jaguars next possession, Rutledge came down the floor and knocked down a pull up jumper in the lane to increase South Alabama’s advantage out to 11-8.

The lead was short-lived though for USA as UNT’s Laura McCoy answered right back with a trey to tie things back up.  After exchanging the lead a couple of times over the next few minutes, Kellum put North Texas back out in front 16-12 when the senior converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 12:58 mark.

With North Texas leading 20-15 with eight minutes, 38 second remaining in the first stanza after a free throw from Godbolt, Cylenthia Kennon drove the lane for the Jaguars for a layup.  Kennon’s bucket with less than eight minutes to go in the first stanza also began a 13-3 run over the next four minutes for South Alabama.  Shelter – who had been held scoreless to this point – later drove the lane for a layup of her own and after being fouled on the play, stepped to the line and converted the three-point play to give USA the lead again at 24-23 with five minutes, 13 seconds on the clock.  A little over a minute later, Shelter knocked down a turnaround jumper in the paint to give the Jags their largest lead of the half at 28-23.

North Texas continued to battle back down the stretch and with USA holding a two-point lead, Godbolt went to the line for two more attempts, but both attempts at the line with 10 seconds remaining in the half, the Mean Green attacked the offensive glass and  come up with two second-chance opportunities.  With time winding down, UNT was able to capitalize on the second opportunity when McCoy knocked down her second three-pointer of the game just before the horn sounded to send North Texas into the locker room with a 37-36 lead.

The deficit could have been much larger for the Lady Jags, but UNT struggled at the charity stripe, shooting just 7-of-19.  South Alabama took advantage of its chances at the free-throw line hitting 12 of its 16 attempts. 

South Alabama came out of the intermission with a little more energy to begin the second period of play.  After trading baskets on each of the first two possessions, Peterson drained her second three-pointer of the game to spark a 12-2 run for the Lady Jags over the next five-and-a-half minutes. During the run, Peterson and Shelter came up big for USA, combining for 10 of South Alabama’s 12 points.  With just under 14 minutes to go in the game, Shelter hit another jumper in the lane to cap off the run and put the Lady Jags up by nine (50-41).

Kellum tried to keep the Mean Green in the game as she recorded 11 of North Texas’ first 14 points to begin the half, including knocking down a pair of free throws to narrow the Jaguar lead to six (57-51) at the 9:!5 mark.

From that point on, USA didn’t allow the Mean Green to get any closer as the Lady Jags finished the game on a 20-8 run over the final nine minutes.  Banks and Shelter led the charge to close things out, combining for 16 of South Alabama’s final 20 points.  Banks posted five points during the run, including a conventional three-point play of her own at the 2:22 mark to increase the Jag led to 17.  Shelter – who chipped in with 11 points during that same stretch – drained a three-pointer from the right corner with a little over a minute remaining to give South Alabama a 79-57 lead, its largest of the game.  North Texas added a couple of late baskets to trim the final margin of victory for USA to 18. 

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).