Box Score - 63, Troy 26 (.pdf)

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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team knocked down 11 treys and held Troy to a season-low in points Sunday afternoon as the Lady Jags picked up a 63-26 victory over in-state rival Troy at the Mitchell Center.  

“I was really pleased with our defensive effort today,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “One of the things, as a coach, you’re always scared of is that after getting a big halftime lead, you think your team is just going to relax, but we kept competing, we kept defending. We defended the whole way through, no matter who was out there (on the court).

“I didn’t see this gap (in scoring) coming,” Pietri added.  “We competed our behinds off at Troy, even getting up to 18, but they brought it back to five with a minute to go. I’m pleased we were able to play as hard as we did throughout. These were the same kids that took Middle Tennessee to overtime. We challenged open shots and got the rebounds. Now we’re 5-4 in the league and we’ve got a huge game here on Wednesday. FAU is really good, so it will be interesting for us.”

With the win, USA snaps a three-game skid and improves to 12-9 on the year and 5-4 in the Sun Belt.  The Jaguars will next host Florida Atlantic on Wednesday morning. Tip-off versus the Owls is set for 11:30 a.m.   Troy falls to 1-19 overall and 0-9 in the league with its 11th-straight loss.

Sarda Peterson was one of three Lady Jags to finish in double figures as she led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-10 from the three-point line.  Mansa El also had a solid outing with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including three treys of her own.  

Led by the play of Peterson and El, South Alabama was 11-for-26 from beyond the three-point line for 42.3 percent shooting.  The duo combined for eight of USA’s 11 treys.  In two meetings versus the Trojans this season, El and Peterson have combined for 71 points and 16 three-pointers.  

Junior guard Mary Nixon chipped in with 11 points, while senior forward Taylor Ammons added 11 rebounds.  Ammons has now recorded nine rebounds or better in seven of USA’s nine league games, finishing in double figures in four of those contests.  Ammons also tied a career-high with three blocks

USA also held a huge advantage on the glass, out rebounding the Trojans 44-27.  

Troy’s Brooke Bowie, DeAngela Sword and Sarah McAppion each had four points.

The Trojans struggled to find their shooting touch all game as they recorded just nine first-half points and hit just 11 of their 48 attempts from the field for 22.9 percent – a season-low by a Jaguar opponent.  Troy was also just 2-of-15 from the arc.

After getting off to a slow start in its last game, South Alabama opened with a 14-0 run over the first six minutes of the contest.  El and Peterson began the scoring for the Lady Jags with a three-pointer on each of USA’s first two possessions.  After a jumper from Nixon, Peterson drained two more deep treys from the right wing to cap off the scoring and give USA the 14-point lead with just under 14 minutes to go in the first half.

Troy finally got onto the scoreboard at the 13:22 mark on Ieva Nagy trey from the left wing.  

With USA leading 17-7 after a bucket from McAppion, El and Peterson again spurred on the Lady Jag offense as the duo ignited a 15-2 run over the next eight minutes.  El and Peterson combined for 13 of South Alabama’s points during the scoring spurt.

The Lady Jag defense continued their strong play to close the half as they held the Trojans scoreless over the last eight minutes, 39 seconds.  

During the first 20 minutes of action, Troy was only able to hit four of its 24 attempts from the floor for 16.7 percent – also a season-low by a Lady Jag opponent.

Of South Alabama’s first 10 field goals, eight came from long range as Peterson and El combined for seven of them.  The duo was deadly from beyond the arc in the first meeting as they combined for eight three-pointers and 39 points.  Over the first 20 minutes of action, Peterson (15) and El (8) had 25 of USA’s 32 points.

After hitting its first field goal of the second half, Troy’s offensive woes continued as the Trojans missed their next nine attempts.  The Trojans would go on to shoot just 7-of-24 for the half.

Following Jamesha Blakes’ layup on Troy’s first possession, USA took advantage of the cold shooting by the visitors and reeled off 12 unanswered points over the next three-and-a-half minutes to extend its lead out to 44-11 with 14:34 to go in period.  During the run, El and Nixon posted 10 of the Jaguars’ points.  

USA would go on to lead by as much as 40 in the second half before cruising to the victory.  All 11 Lady Jags that dressed played with nine of them scoring at least two points or more.  

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, South Alabama improves to 18-17 in the all-time series and 13-2 under head coach Rick Pierti.  The win was also the 198th overall of Pietri’s career.  The 37-point margin of victory was the largest for South Alabama in the series and the second-largest by either team (46 points by Troy [93-47 back during the 1977-78 season] was the largest).  The 26 points are also the fewest scored by either team in the series and a season-low for the Trojans.  The 26 points were also the fewest allowed by the Lady Jags to an opponent this season.  The 16.7 first-half shooting percentage and the 22.9 field-goal percentage for the game were both season lows by a Jaguar opponent.  The nine points in the first half by Troy were the fewest points scored by a South Alabama opponent in the opening period of play since Spring Hill scored 10 versus USA back on Dec. 8, 2010 at the Mitchell Center.  With the 21-point halftime lead, South Alabama has now led at the intermission in six of its nine SBC games.  The duo of Sarda Peterson and Mansa El combined to scored 32 points for USA and eight three-pointers on Sunday.  In the two games versus Troy this season, El and Peterson have combined for 71 points and 16 treys.  With her 15 points, El has now recorded double-figures in 13 of her last 19 games.  The five three-pointers against the Trojans by Sarda Peterson tied a season-high for the senior.  Mary Nixon has also finished in double digits in five of her last eight outings.  Fouled at the 6:42 mark of the second half while attempting a three-pointer versus Troy, freshman Breanna Hall has now been fouled three times this season while attempting the long-range shot.  She is 7-of-9 at the foul line in those opportunities.  Senior forward Taylor Ammons has recorded nine rebounds or better in seven of USA’s nine Sun Belt games.

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