Box Score - Florida International 50, South Alabama 48
MOBILE, Ala. – Finde Mansare hit two free throws with 13.1 seconds remaining and the Panther defense forced a late turnover to help Florida International pick up a 50-48 Sun Belt Conference victory over the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center.
USA (11-7, 4-2 SBC) will now host SBC East Division leader Middle Tennessee on Saturday night. Tip-off versus the Blue Raiders is set for 5:05 p.m. With the win, FIU improves to 13-6 overall and 3-3 in the league.
Mansa El led all players with 18 points in the loss. She was 6-of-16 from the floor and had three steals. USA’s second-leading scorer Sarda Peterson – who had posted back-to-back 23-point outings – was held to just three points by the Panther defense. Led by Taylor Ammons, South Alabama held a 48-35 advantage on the glass. Ammons pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for the Jaguars.
Mansare was one of two players for FIU to end the night in double digits, as she had 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting. South Alabama’s defense did a good job of containing Jerica Coley, holding her to 15 points – 10 points under the nation’s second-leading scorer’s average. Coley was 5-of-13 from the field.
The key stat of the night came in the field-goal percentage department as Florida International was 11-of-17 from the floor in the final period of play for 64.7 percent. South Alabama was just 7-of-32 in that department for 21.9 percent shooting. The second-half field-goal percentages were a season-high by a Lady Jag opponent and a season-low for USA.
“We played hard and we competed, but when you shoot 26-percent against a quality team you lose,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “ Scoring for us, at times, is a major chore. You have to give FIU credit in how they defended – their length makes it a challenge. Our perimeter people, particularly in the second half, passed up open looks to try and take it deep (towards the basket), but against a team with length like FIU, when you’re open you better shoot it. It’s very difficult to drive it in on a team like that. We just don’t have enough people to make things happen on the offensive side, so we have to work hard to get good looks and make shots."
South Alabama came out struggling to find its shooting touch over the first four-and-a-half minutes as the Lady Jags missed their first seven shots from the floor, allowing Florida International to jump out to an early 5-0 lead. However, El finally put USA on the scoreboard when she drove the lane and hit a one-handed runner in the lane. Ammons then added a pair of put backs to give the Lady Jags their first lead of the night (6-5) and then after a bucket from FIU’s Tynia McKinzie, Camille Reynolds drained a trey from the top of the key at the 11:24 mark to increase USA’s advantage to 9-7.
With the Jaguars holding a one-point lead (10-9) a little over a minute later, Colley – who led FIU with nine first-half points – knocked down a pair of free throws and recorded a layup at the 7:49 mark to put the Panthers back out in front by three, but on USA’s ensuing possession, El knocked down a jumper and then converted the three-point play after she was fouled to tie the game back up at 13-13..
Over the next several minutes, the two clubs traded baskets, but with the contest tied at 18-18, the Lady Jags would close strong at both ends of the floor. Cylenthia Kennon’s free throws at the 5:44 mark began a 10-2 run for South Alabama. Two-and-a-half minutes later, Veronica Cherizol hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to increase USA’s lead to 22-18.
After a jumper from Mansare on FIU’s next possession, Cherizol hit one of her two attempts at the charity stripe and Nixon and El capped off the run with a bucket apiece. Nixon laid the ball off the glass with two minutes remaining, and then with under a minute to go, El drained a trey from the left wing to extend USA’s lead out to 28-20.
FIU hit just one of its last nine shots to close the period.
South Alabama held a big advantage on the glass during the opening 20 minutes of action as they out rebounded the Panthers 27-18. Of the 27 boards, nine came off the offensive glass, which USA was able to convert into 10 second-chance points. Ammons led the Jaguars with eight first-half rebounds.
USA first three points from Ammons to increase lead to 31-20 just over a minute into the second half, but the Jags would go cold over the next five minutes, missing their next seven shots. During that time, the Panthers took advantage and quickly cut into the South Alabama lead with an 8-0 run.
El ended the scoreless drought with a conventional three-point play at the 14:10 mark to increase USA’s led to six (34-28).
The Panthers kept chipping away at the South Alabama lead and narrowed the deficit to two (36-34) after back-to-back jumpers from Mansare, the second coming with 10 minutes, 45 seconds showing on the clock.
On Florida International’s next possession, the Lady Jags were able to force a turnover and took advantage when Camille Reynolds found Sarda Peterson open on the right wing for a three-pointer. The bucket was the reigning SBC Player of the Week’s first points of the game.
FIU though didn’t allow USA to build momentum and came back with five unanswered points to take its first lead of the second half at 41-39 with just under six minutes to go. Coley began the scoring spurt with a step-back baseline jumper. The Panthers then took the two-point lead on after a free throw from Sasha Meinikova free throw.
Over the next four minutes, the two clubs would go back-and-forth. El put the Lady Jags up 44-43 when the red shirt junior drained a three-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock was set to expire, but over the next minute-plus, Mansare and Cooley each added a basket to help FIU jump back out in front by three (47-44) with two minutes to go.
On USA’s next possession though, Peterson drove the lane and after the FIU defense collapsed on her, she found Cherizol open for a layup. With under a minute to play, El gave the lead again when she stepped to the line and sank both free throws to put South Alabama back out in front 49-48. The Lady Jag defense then forced a Panther turnover when Coley had the ball deflect off her shin, but on the ensuing possession, South Alabama turned the ball back over. With time running down, Mansare was able to get Ammons to get off her feet and draw the foul. Mansare then connected on both her attempts at the line to give FIU the one-point advantage. On South Alabama’s next possession, FIU forced another turnover on a sideline inbounds play with under 10 seconds remaining and Fanni Hutlassa hit one of two at the foul line with under five seconds to go. USA was unable to get a shot off before time expired.
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 falls to 11-14 in the all-time series with Florida International. South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri is 10-9 against the Panthers. With its eight-point halftime lead, South Alabama has now led at the intermission in five of its six Sun Belt Conference games. The 21.9 second-half field goal percentage by the Lady Jags was a season-low. The 64.7 second-half field-goal percentage by Florida International was a season-best by an opponent. It also marked a season-high by an opponent for either half. With her 15 rebounds, USA’s Taylor Ammons has now recorded nine rebounds or better in five of South Alabama’s six Sun Belt Conference games. She has finished in double figures in that category three times. For the third-straight game, USA’s bench was outscored (13-11). Prior to the last three games, USA’s reserves had only been outscored twice.
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