Box Score - Middle Tennessee 71, South Alabama 48 (.pdf)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The inside game of Middle Tennessee post players Ebony Rowe and Icelyn Elie proved to be too much for the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team Saturday evening as the Lady Jags fell 71-48 at Middle Tennessee at the Murphy Center. 

The duo combined to record 45 of the Blue Raiders’ 71 points.  Rowe led all scorers with 24 points on 11-of-20 shooting, while Elie finished the contest with 21 points and was 8-for-13 from the floor.  Rowe and Elie each just missed posting a double-double, pulling down eight and nine rebounds, respectively. 

“Middle Tennessee is just really good,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “Icelyn Elie and Ebony Rowe are both really good players for them.  (Middle Tennessee) is going to make difficult plays.  The worst part is when you give them second chances to make a conversion and that was our problem.  We knew they were going to make plays.  We just gave them additional chances and we have to be better than that.  We physically weren’t solid enough to prevent them from doing that, therefore we paid a much heftier price.  Now, we have to find a way and move forward.”

Of Middle Tennessee’s 37 rebounds, 13 came at the offensive end of the floor.

The Blue Raiders held a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint and were nearly perfect at the free-throw line, finishing 13-for-14 at the stripe.  They were also 28-of-56 from the field for 50 percent, while USA was 20-for-52 for 38.5 percent.

MTSU’s Anne Marie Lanning also chipped in with 15 points of her own.  With the win, Middle Tennessee maintains its lead in the Sun Belt’s East Division, improving to 19-5 overall and 10-1 in the league.  The Blue Raiders have now won 15-straight in the all-time series. 

The Lady Jags (13-10, 5-6 SBC) were paced offensively by Siedah Banks nine points.  Banks also added four assists and three steals.  Sarda Peterson recorded eight points, while Taylor Ammons and Ronneka Robertson each had six points. 

USA will now return home to host in-state rival Troy on Wednesday.  Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.

Led by Lanning and Rowe – who combined for 10 of the Blue Raiders’ first 12 points – Middle Tennessee was able to jump out to a 12-5 advantage over the first five-and-a-half minutes of the contest.  With USA trailing by seven, Lauren Walker and Vannessa Simmons came of the Lady Jag bench to knock down back-to-back treys and trim the deficit to one with nine minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the opening period of play.

Over the next two minutes, 20 seconds, Middle Tennessee regained the momentum and reeled off nine unanswered points to stretch its lead back out to21-12 with just over seven minutes to go.  Of the nine Blue Raider points, all but one came inside the paint.  MTSU finished the first 20 minutes of action with 22 points in that same category.

Middle Tennessee continued to go down low and Rowe’s layup at the 2:53 mark gave the Blue Raiders their largest lead of the half at 34-19.  Rowe led all scorers in the first half with 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting.  Lanning – who was 4-for-4 from the floor in the first half – maintained that advantage for MTSU and sent the Blue Raiders into the locker room with a 38-23 lead when she came off a screen and drained a jumper in the lane just before the end of the half.  In the first meeting of the season, the senior guard her first eight shots for MTSU.

The Blue Raiders came out firing in the first half, knocking down 16 of its 30 shots for 53.3 percent shooting.  USA rebound from a slow offensive start to shoot 40 percent from the field on 10-of-25 shooting.  The Lady Jags were also just 3-for-11 from outside the arc in the first period. 

South Alabama began the second half with four quick points – a free throw from Peterson and a Brittney Rutledge three-pointer  - that cut the deficit to, 38-27, 34 seconds into the final period of play, but that would prove to be as close as the Lady Jags would get the rest of the way. 

Over the next three minutes, the Blue Raiders went on a 10-1 run to extend their lead back out to 20 points (48-28).  Elie – who had 14 of her 21 points and was 6-for-6 from the field in the second half – led the charge during the MTSU run. 

The Lady Jags kept battling and began to chip away at the deficit over the next five minutes, eventually cutting the Middle Tennessee lead to 14 (52-38) when Brittney Rutledge found Veronica Cherizol open underneath the basket for a layup at the 11:31mark.

MTSU ended the Jaguar threat and answered back with a 15-2 run over the next eight minutes to put the game away.  The Blue Raiders once again turned to its inside duo as they combined for 10 of the 15 points during the scoring spurt.  From there, MTSU went on to take the 23-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).