Box Score - South Alabama 59, Tennessee State 43 (.pdf)   

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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team used a 16-0 run over a five minute stretch late in the second half to pick up a 59-43 victory over Tennessee State Monday evening at the Mitchell Center.  

USA (2-0) will now host regional rival Southern Miss on Friday night.  Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. versus the Golden Eagles.

Mary Nixon led all scorers with a game-high 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting.  The senior was 2-for-3 from beyond the three-point line and 4-of-6 at the charity stripe.  Camille Reynolds chipped in with nine points – all in the first half – while Jennifer Johnson had eight, six coming during the late Jaguar run.  Brianna Wright pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds, 10 of which coming at the defensive end of the floor.  

Tennessee State (1-1) was led offensively gy Alana Morris who had nine points.  Simone Hope and Jasmine Shuler also added eight points apiece.  

Three-point shooting proved to be a key category as the Lady Jags were 7-of-14 from long range (50 percent) and TSU was just 2-for-13 for 15.4 percent.  

USA and the Lady Tigers each turned the ball over as the Jags committed 26 and TSU had 24.

“I give a lot of a lot of credit to Tennessee State for making this a really ugly game,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “It’s coach (Joe) Inman’s 29th year as a coach in Division I, his third program.  He’s won conference championships and been to the NCAA Tournament. With this team, he’s decided they are a relentless pressure team. Full-court, half-court, it doesn’t matter. They sell out. They completely sell out under pressure and we struggled with it early. We had 16 turnovers at halftime and that’s not characteristic of our teams and how we play. We were very defensive on offense, and it led to some problems.

“One of the fortunate things for us is that we guarded them. Even while we were struggling to take care of the ball and struggling to score, we were defending well enough that we could muddle through and still, somehow, be up at halftime. In the second half, we did a better job of managing how they were playing us. We started to make them pay in some areas where they got extended and we were able to make some plays under the goal. We were also able to make some plays beyond the arc. In their frenzied rotation, somebody was left open. Jennifer Johnson hit some big shots for us at one point. In the first half, Camille Reynolds was the one who kept us in the game. She stayed composed while everyone else was losing their minds and she made some big plays for us. We won by 16, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. We are 2-0 and we’re moving forward.”

Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball over the first eight-plus minutes of the game as each committed eight miscues.  The two clubs also opened up hitting a combined four of their first 18 attempts from the floor.

With USA holding an early three-point advantage, the Lady Tigers reeled off six-straight points to take a three-point lead of their own, 10-7, on a layup by Alana Morris.  Morris picked up a loose ball around mid court and went the distance for the easy bucket with just under 11 minutes showing on the clock.

On USA’s ensuing possession though, Reynolds knocked down a 15-foot jumper.  Following the bucket, the senior guard would go on to record nine of South Alabama’s next 13 points.  Her basket with five minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the period put the Jaguars up by five (20-15).  Reynolds was 4-of-7 from the floor during the first 20 minutes of play.

The Lady Tigers came right back though and retook the lead two minutes later on a jumper from Simone Hope at the 3:12 mark.

The TSU lead didn’t last long as Meghan Dunn found a crease in the interior of the Tiger defense and went up and under for a layup to put USA back out in front on the next trip down the floor.  A minute later, Nixon drained a pull up jumper along the left baseline and with under a minute she found Brianna Wright open under the basket for a layup to increase USA’s lead to 26-21.  

On Tennessee State’s next trip, Morris sent the Lady Tigers into the locker room trailing by just three (26-23) with a jumper of her own.

Both teams struggled holding onto the ball as USA committed 16 first-half turnovers to TSU’s 14.    

In the second half, Nixon knocked down a trey with 18 minutes, 25 seconds to go to put USA up 29-23, but on the Lady Tigers’ next trip down the court, Shuler – the club’s leading scorer from a year ago – came alive and rattled off seven unanswered points over the next two-and-a-half minutes.  Shuler’s basket at the 16:25 mark put TSU up by one (30-29).  

With just over 15 minutes remaining, freshman point guard began a 9-2 run for the Jaguars when she drove the left side of the lane for a layup.  Webb later capped off the run for USA when her three-pointer from the right wing just beat the shot clock and extended the lead out to 38-32 with 12 minutes, 33 seconds showing.  

Tennessee State came right back and recaptured the lead again when Chelsea Hudson converted an and one opportunity to again put the Tigers up 39-38 with 10 minutes left on the clock.  

That would be the last lead for TSU as the Lady Jags would erupt on a 16-0 run to put the game away.  Johnson began the pivotal run for South Alabama with back-to-back treys.  El and Nixon then added four points apiece to finish the scoring.  El’s two free throws with less than three to go gave USA a 54-39 advantage.  

Nixon later sealed the 16-point victory for the Jaguars with a three and an uncontested layup in the final minute.  Nixon was big in the final period of action as she was 4-for-8 from the field and had 12 of her 16 points.  

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 2-1 in the all-time series.  The meeting was the first in the series in Mobile between the two clubs.  The Lady Jags have now won 31 of its previous 39 home openers and are 12-1 record under head coach Rick Pietri in those games. South Alabama improved to 8-5 all-time versus OVC members, while Pietri is now 3-2 against the league.  Mary Nixon has now led USA in scoring in both regular season contests this season and recorded double-figures in each of those games.  The 11 rebounds were a career-best for freshman post player Brianna Wright.  The 26 turnovers by South Alabama marked the first time the club has had more than 25 turnovers in a game since committing 42 versus Louisiana Tech back on Feb. 5, 2000.

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