Box Score - Denver 63, South Alabama 43 (.pdf)

DENVER – Denver placed three players in double figures as the Pioneers went on to defeat the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team 63-43 Sunday afternoon at Magness Arena on “Senior Night”. 

Katelyn Murdoch led all players with 17 points and nine rebounds, while seniors Brianna Culberson and Britteni Rice added 16 and 15 points respectively for the Pioneers (17-10, 9-5 SBC).  Culberson also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for DU.  As a team, Denver finished 22-of-47 from the field for 46.8 percent.  The Pioneers were also 12-for-14 at the charity stripe.  Denver also held a 28-12 on point in the paint.

“We played a very good team tonight in Denver,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “(Denver) is also a very good offensive team.  We had specific assignments that we were supposed to follow throw with to try to make it more difficult to score and we just didn’t follow through with those assignments.  Fatigue tends to take one’s ability to concentrate away from them.  Our team didn’t have the resolve to fight through the atmospheric situation.  We just allowed the atmosphere to consume us and because of that, we possessed no ability to fight, which is disappointing.  The season is always a process and we are clearly coming to the end of it.  You hope that you can learn from something like this, but as we come to the end, we have to figure out at what point we are going to learn lessons from the mistakes we make.”

USA (15-11, 7-7 SBC) will now return home to host Sun Belt West Division leader UALR on Wednesday.  Tip off versus the Trojans is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.

Sarda Peterson was the lone Jag to record double digits as the junior finished with 10 points.  Christian Shelter and Vannessa Simmons added nine points each.  South Alabama’s offensive road struggles continued as the Lady Jags shot just 24.9 percent from the field – its second-lowest percentage of the season.  USA has now scored less than 50 points in five of its last six Sun Belt road games.

South Alabama looked as if it was going to get off to a good start on the road when Peterson drained a deep three-pointer on the Lady Jags’ first possession of the game, but over the next nine-plus minutes, USA’s offense struggled to score, missing two of its next 12 shot attempts, while also turning the ball over five times during that same stretch.

Denver took advantage of the cold streak and jumped out to a six-point lead with 10 minutes, 23 seconds remaining on the clock.  Led by two of their seniors – Culberson and Rice - playing their final home game, the Pioneers used a 14-5 run to grab the lead.  The duo combined for 10 of DU’s points during the run and finished the first half with 20 of the Pioneers’ 34 points.

Vannessa Simmons knocked down one of South Alabama’s four three-pointers in the opening period to end the scoring spurt and trim the deficit to 14-11 with just over nine minutes to go, but Denver came right back and stretch its lead out to nine (22-13) after back-to-back jumpers from Murdoch. 

With five minutes, 26 seconds left in the first stanza, Peterson drove the lane for a layup to cut the deficit to 24-18, but over the final four minutes, the Pioneers would close with a 10-4 run to go into halftime with a 34-22 lead.  Emiko Smith sent DU into the locker room with the 12-point advantage when the sophomore point guard drained a trey of her own from the left wing as the shot clock was about to expire with 18 second remaining in the half. 

Denver – who entered as one of the top shooting clubs in the Sun Belt – was 14-of-27 during the first 20 minutes of play for 51.9 percent.  USA was 9-for-29 for 31 percent. 

The Lady Jags came out of the intermission with five quick points to chip into the Pioneer lead.  Taylor Ammons stole the ball and went the length of the floor for a layup and on USA’s next trip down the floor, Siedah Banks found Shelter open for a three-pointer to pull the Jags within seven at 34-27.

That would be as close as USA would get the rest of the game though as Denver quickly stretched its lead back out to 12 (41-29) after a jumper from Murdoch with less than 16 minutes remaining. 

Peterson brought the Lady Jags back to within eight following a pair of free throws that cut it to 41-33 at the 12:19 mark, but the Pioneers were able to break the game open with a 16-2 run over the next six minutes.  Murdoch again led the charge for Denver as the junior recorded nine points during the run, including a jumper at the 6:25 mark that gave DU its largest lead of the game (57-35). During the DU run, the Pioneers hit five of its seven shots from the floor and 6-for-7 from the foul line.  The Pioneers went on to capture the 20-point victory.

Denver was 10-of-25 from the field in the second half, while holding USA to just 18.8 percent shooting (6-of-32). 

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).