Box Score - South Alabama 69, Southern Miss 67 (.pdf)
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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team held on and remained undefeated Friday night with a 69-67 victory over Conference USA foe Southern Miss at the Mitchell Center.
The Lady Jags struggled to close out the contest during the final two minutes as they hit just one of their four attempts at the foul line and turned the ball over with 18 seconds remaining, but Jerontay Clemons’ running jumper in the lane bounced off the rim as time expired, giving South Alabama the two-point victory.
“I’m thoroughly exhausted,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said following the nail-bitter. “This was really a well-played game by both sides. Southern Miss has some tremendous offensive weapons. We’re a very good defensive team and we had trouble with them. We had trouble managing them on the defensive end of the floor because of their kids’ ability to create things for themselves. There are some things I’d like for us to do better, and we’re going to talk about that when we look at the film.”
USA (3-0) will now begin a five-game road swing over the next two weeks, taking on Southern on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center. The Golden Eagles fall to 0-2 on the year with the loss.
Mary Nixon led South Alabama with 20 points – her second 20-point game of the season – on 7-of-14 shooting. Nixon also added seven rebounds and four steals in the Jaguar victory. She was one of four players to end the night in double figures. Brianna Wright chipped in with 12 point and was 5-for-8 from the field. Meghan Dunn had 11 points for USA on 5-of-10 shooting, while Ronneka Robertson finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, both season highs for the Kentwood, La., native.
USM was paced by a pair of 20-point efforts in the loss. Jamierra Faulkner finished the night with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while also dishing out five assists. Clemons was also 8-of-18 from the field and ended the game with 21 points. Both of the Golden Eagle guards were solid at the charity stripe. Faulkner was 5-for-7 and Clemons was 4-of-6.
“I think the kid that made the difference for Southern Miss, that put them in the game was Clemons because (Tanecka) Carey killed us last year, and Clemons, who’s a freshman, just came in and had a coming-out party against us. You never like to give a freshman 21 and nine in her road debut, but we did that, and she deserves a lot of credit for that. Coach (Joye-Lee) McNelis put her in positions to have those chances.”
As a team, Southern Miss shot 45.6 percent from the field, hitting 26 of its 56 attempts. USA shot 38.8 percent from the floor, but struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just three of its 20 attempts for 15 percent.
The Lady Jag bench also provided some valuable minutes and contributions in the win, outscoring USM’s reserves 30-4.
“Meghan (Dunn) was solid tonight for us,” Pietri said. “Brittany Webb did some really nice things off the bench. Diamonisha Sophus struggled in the first half and then in the second half was really good. Those kids in particular came off the bench tonight and made contributions. I like what our bench gave us (tonight).”
Another key stat in the contest for South Alabama was on the offensive glass, where the Jaguars collected 22 rebounds.
“Offensively, for the most part, we did what we were supposed to do,” Pietri said. “(Southern Miss) played a very small group and we took advantage of that by going to the offensive glass. We were able to collect a number of offensive rebounds and I think at the end of the day in a two-point win, those offensive rebounds might have been the difference in terms of winning the game.”
South Alabama came out sluggish at the offensive end of the floor hitting just one of its first seven attempts and four of its first 19 from the field. The Golden Eagles took advantage of the offense’s slow start and holding a one point lead (11-10) with under 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Clemons banked in a trey from the right wing to begin a run of seven unanswered points for Southern Miss. Clemons added another basket and Ance Celmina’s bucket at the 9:53 mark put USM out in front 18-10.
Coming out of the under 12 media though, the Lady Jags began to gain the momentum. Brittany Webb’s steal and layup with just under nine minutes to go provided a spark and ignited a 17-2 run for South Alabama over the next four-plus minutes. On USA’s next trip down the floor, Robertson kept the ball alive and laid the ball back off the glass. The junior forward would go on to record six of her eight first-half points during the Jaguar scoring spurt.
After a basket by USM’s Nitesha Pierce, Dunn drained USA’s first three-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to three (20-17). The Lady Jags had missed their first seven attempts from long range prior to the Dunn triple. Robertson added a pair of free throws with just over seven minutes to go and Dunn then intercepted a Golden Eagle pass and went coast-to-coast for a layup, giving USA its first lead of the night with six minutes, 41 seconds showing on the clock.
Nixon added a pair of free throws and a layup of her own less than a minute later and Robertson capped off the Jaguar run and stretched the lead out to seven (27-20) when Webb found Robertson open under the goal for a layup of her own.
Nit. Pierce’s bucket at the 4:11 mark ended the Jaguar run and was USM’s first points in a three-plus minute stretch. Faulkner added two free throws of her own on the ensuing possession for the Golden Eagles, but Dunn hit a runner and Nixon later pushed USA’s lead back out to 34-26 with a trey from the left side and a baseline jumper with one minute, 45 seconds remaining in the half.
Southern Miss was able to pull within four (36-32) just before the intermission when Tiarra Pollnitz’s turnaround jumper went in just before the horn.
Nixon led the Lady Jags offensively during first 20 minutes of action, while Faulkner had 10 for the Golden Eagles. Both clubs shot the ball well in the first period of play. Southern Miss was 13-of-25 from the field (52 percent), while USA was 14 for 33 for 42.4 percent shooting.
In the second half, South Alabama extended its lead out to seven (40-33) during the first couple of minutes of play, but led by Clemons, Southern Miss rattled off a 10-2 run over a five minute stretch and retook the lead 43-42 with 13 minutes, 13 seconds to go on a layup from the USM freshman. Clemons had six of the Golden Eagles’ points during the run.
The Southern Miss lead was short lived though as on the Lady Jags’ next possession, El found Sophus open for a three-pointer to put USA back out in front. Sophus continued to contribute on the next two possessions as the freshman point guard found Wright open two-straight times in the post for easy layups. The two buckets by Wright began a string of 10 straight points from the Lady Jag post player.
While Wright was providing the offense for USA, Faulkner was keeping it close for Southern Miss as she also posted 10 consecutive points for the visitors.
USM kept battling and remained close though as the Lady Jags were unable to pull away. USA seemed to gain a bit of breathing room as Nixon’s jumper with just over five minutes reaming stretched the lead out to 62-57, but the Golden Eagle kept fighting and made it a one-possession game down the stretch.
Faulkner trimmed the deficit to 69-67 with just over a minute to play when the junior weaved her way to the basket for another layup, but that would be the final points for either team as USA survived when Clemons attempt in the lane at the buzzer was no good.
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 improved to 11-15 in the all-time series and 8-2 under head coach Rick Pietri. USA is also now 8-2 in the series in game played in Mobile. Pietri is 7-2 against Southern Miss head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. The Lady Jags are now 3-0 in game played on Nov. 16, 2-0 versus the Golden Eagles on those dates. The last time USA played on this date was during the 2010-11 season where the Jaguars defeated Southern Miss, 95-61 in Mobile. With the win, South Alabama also moved to 46-51 against Conference USA foes, while Pietri holds a 14-7 all-time versus the league. The 20-point outing was the second of the season for senior guard Mary Nixon. The 11 points were a new season-best for junior guard Meghan Dunn. Brianna Wright also set a new season-high in points with her 12 point effort. The 10 points tied a career-best for Ronneka Robertson and the nine rebounds were a season high. The 3-for-20 three-point shooting was a season low for the Lady Jags. The 22 offensive rebounds and the 47 total rebounds were the most by South Alabama in a game to date.
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