Box Score - South Alabama 53, Troy 46 (.pdf)

TROY, Ala. – Senior guard Sarda Peterson netted 23 points for the second-straight game as the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team held off Troy Saturday evening at Sartain Hall to pick up the Lady Jags’ fourth-straight Sun Belt Conference win.

Peterson was 8-of-14 from the floor and tied a season-high with five three-pointers for the second game in a row.  Mansa El also finished in double figures for the Jaguars with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting.  She was 3-of-9 from beyond the arc and also recorded four steals.  
    
USA (11-6, 4-1 SBC) will now return home to host Florida International on Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center. Tip-off versus the Panthers is set for 7:05 p.m.  Troy falls to 1-15 on the year and 0-5 in the league with the loss.  

“It’s another game that we survived on the road,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “We had an 18-point lead with under eight to go and we just kind of quit playing and Troy took advantage of that.  Our kids got a little bit full of ourselves with an 18-point lead and Troy started making plays and got it going.  We never could recover the energy that got us the big lead.  The good news is that when they got it to within five at the end, we were able to survive and hit the free throws. We protected the ball and had enough good stops defensively to get the win.  Clearly, I’m happy with the win.  It doesn’t matter who you play in our league.  If you can get a road win, it’s a good thing.”

DeAngela Sword led the Trojans with 11 points, all of which came during the first half.  

South Alabama was 16-for-53 from the field for 30.2 percent shooting and was 8-of-25 from the arc for 32 percent.  Troy was 18-of-49 from the floor for 36.7 percent.  

The Lady Jag defense was able to force 18 turnovers and held a 15-8 advantage in the points off turnover category.  

Both clubs came out struggling to score over the first four minute as they combined to miss their first 12 shots.  El put USA on the scoreboard first with a pair of free throws at the 16:09 mark, but the Trojans came right back with a three-pointer from Jasmine Pitts and a jumper from Tenia Manuel to take a 5-2 lead less than a minute later.  

El provided the scoring early recording six of USA’s first eight points, her last two coming on a pair of free throws to give the Lady Jags their first lead of the night (8-7) with 12 minutes, 22 seconds to go in the first half.

The lead was short lived for the Lady Jags though as over the next five minutes, Sword would come on strong and lead a 12-4 run for the Trojans.  Sword – who had left the game at the 18:01 mark after her head collided with an inadvertent elbow – posted nine points during the scoring spurt.   Her three-pointer from the top of the key put the Trojans up by seven (19-12) with seven minutes, 19 seconds to go.

Peterson – as she did Wednesday night at Louisiana-Lafayette – came alive from behind the arc for the Jaguars and ignited a 14-2 run for South Alabama over a seven-minute span when the senior from Ft. Myers, Fla., drained back-to-back treys to cut the deficit to19-18.

After a bucket from Jasmine Blake on the Trojans’ next possession, Peterson tied the contest up at 21-21 with her third-straight trey. South Alabama continued to build on the lead over the next several minutes with a free throw from Mary Nixon and points in the paint from Peterson and Veronica Cherizol.  Cherizol’s post move with under a minute to play in the half capped the run and extended South Alabama’s lead out to 26-21.  

Sword came down on the Trojans’ ensuing possession and hit a jumper to end a nearly six-minute scoreless streak for the Troy and a run of eight-straight Jaguar points, but Nixon knocked down a pair of foul shots just before the half to send USA into the locker room with the 28-23 lead.  

Peterson led all scorers during the first 20 minutes of play with 13 points, while Sword had 11 for the Trojans.

Troy came out of the intermission and quickly cut South Alabama’s lead to one during the opening minute of the second half.  Tenia Manuel scored on Troy’s first possession and after a Jaguar turnover Courtney Coleman laid the ball off the glass to make it 28-27

Peterson and El had the answer though as the duo connected on a three-pointer apiece to stretch the South Alabama advantage back out to 34-27 with 17 minutes, 13 seconds showing on the clock.

After a layup from McAppion, El connected again from long range two more times from the left wing to extend the lead out to 40-29 with just under 14 minutes to go.  Cherizol later added a jumper and after another trey from Peterson – her fifth of the night - USA took largest lead at 49-31 on a pair of free throws from Nixon at the 7:30 mark.
Holding a 18-point advantage, South Alabama looked to be in full control, but the Lady Jags would go on to miss their final seven shots.   

Following Nixon’s free throws, Troy came right back with a three-pointer from the right corner by Blake.  The possession was kept alive after the Trojans were able to chase down a loose-ball rebound.  The Blake trey ignited a 15-2 run for the Trojans over the next six-and-a-half minutes.  After a three-point play from Coleman, Sophie Kleeman knocked down a pair of jumpers in the lane to bring the Jaguar lead under double figures at 5-41 with four minutes, four seconds to go in regulation.  Manuel then drove the lane for a layup and Brooke Bowie drained a deep three from the right wing with 40.9 seconds remaining to trim the deficit to five (51-46).

On South Alabama’s ensuing possession, the Trojans had a chance to get even closer as they forced USA to turn the ball over, but on their possession, Blake was called for traveling when driving the left side of the lane for a layup.  

Forced to foul, Troy sent Peterson to the line and the senior knocked down both free throw opportunities with 22.9 seconds left.  The Jaguar defense held strong the rest of the way and South Alabama held on to capture the seven-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).

NOTES: With the win, the series is now tied at 17-17.  USA improves to 12-2 versus the Trojans under head coach Rick Pietri and 5-2 in Troy.  With its five-point lead at the half, USA has now led at the intermission in four of its five Sun Belt games.  South Alabama is now 151-41 when holding opponents to 60 points or less.  USA has held 12 opponents under that mark this season and is 9-3 in those games.  Lauren Walker returned to action from injury and played seven minutes versus the Trojans. With her five three-pointers, Sarda Peterson tied a season-high for treys in a game.  She also moved into second place on the program’s career three-pointers list, passing former Lady Jag Shakira Nettles.  Peterson is now 24 behind Stephanie Richardson’s program-mark of 175.  The 20-point game was Peterson’s third of her career and marked the first time in her career that she has recorded back-to-back 20-point games.

-- USA --