Box Score - Florida Atlantic 67, South Alabama 56 (.pdf)

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team held a six-point lead at the intermission, but Florida Atlantic used a pair of second-half surges to rally back and defeat the Lady Jags, 67-56, in its Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams Wednesday night at FAU Arena.  

USA (5-2, 0-1 SBC) will close out its five-game road swing on Saturday when the Jaguars take on Florida International at 4:30 p.m. (CT) at the U.S. Century Bank Arena.  Live stats and live audio for the game between the Lady Jags and the Panthers can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.

Mansa El led the Jaguars offensively with 12 points and six assists.  She was 5-of-13 from the field and also pulled down five rebounds.  Meghan Dunn also registered double figures in the loss with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from the arc.  She had a team-high three steals.

Ronneka Robertson had six points and a game-high seven rebounds for South Alabama.

FAU improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference with the win.  The Owls placed three players in double digits led by Kimberly Smith’s 19 points.  Smith was 8-for-11 from the field – 3-for-5 from the three-point line – and dished out six assists as well.

Takia Brooks was 6-of-9 and recorded 12 points, while Briah Blakely was 5-for-6 for 11 points.  As a team, Florida Atlantic was 29-for-56 from the field and shot 51.8 percent.  
    
The game was a tale of two halves for both clubs at both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. In the first half, USA turned the ball over 11 times, but only allowed the Owls to convert them into two points.  In the second half, the Jaguars committed 15 turnovers and surrendered 23 points off those miscues.

The Lady Jag defense also held Florida Atlantic to just 37.5 percent shooting during the first 20 minutes of play, but in the second half, the Owls connected on 20 of their 32 attempts for 62.5 percent shooting – the highest field-goal percentage allowed by South Alabama to an opponent in any half of play this season.  

South Alabama held a 29-22 advantage at the break, but FAU came out with much more energy in the final period of play, beginning the half with a 6-0 run.  Blakely’s steal and layup with 17 minutes, 32 seconds remaining capped off the spurt and narrowed the deficit to 29-28.

“I think our kids just got too comfortable holding the seven-point lead at the half,” Pietri said.  “At the start of the second half, Florida Atlantic just started taking if from us.  We just couldn’t meet their energy.  We executed very well defensively in the first half, did a good job defending them and held them to 37 percent shooting.  In the second half, our energy level just wasn’t where it needed to be and again, I think it was because we go complacent.  For a variety of reason, we weren’t ready to play tonight and you have to credit coach (Kellie) Jay-Lewis and her team for the way they played in the second half.  They just out executed us.”

With USA holding a 35-32 lead with just under 16 minutes showing on the clock, the Owls reclaimed the lead and broke the game open with a 15-2 run over the next six minutes.  Chenise Miller – who played most of the game in foul trouble for FAU – started the run with a bucket in the paint.  Brooks then knocked down a jumper at the 14:12 mark to put Florida Atlantic out in front.  Smith followed that basket up with a trey and a jumper to extend the lead to six (41-25) for the Owls.  

Smith was instrumental in the second-half success, hitting all five of her shots and recording four of her six assists in the frame.

Morgan Robinson later capped off the scoring and gave FAU a 12-point lead (49-37) when Smith found her open for a layup of her own

With under 10 minutes to go, Brianna Wright – who sat out the first half –twice brought USA within a bucket of cutting the Owl lead to single digits, but Miller’s bucket at the 7:13 mark stretched the deficit out to 57-41.  

USA again battled back and trimmed the FAU lead to 10 (57-47) when Wright hit one of two at the foul line with just over four to play, but that was as close as the Lady Jags would get the rest of the way.

With less than two minutes remaining, FAU took its largest lead of the contest, 67-48, on layup by Brooks following a Jaguar turnover.  From there, the Owls would hold on to pick up the win.

Florida Atlantic came out and took an early five-point lead a little over three minutes into the game, but South Alabama came right back and rattled off a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to take its first lead of the night.  

Trailing by one (7-6), Brittany Webb drained a three-pointer from the right side of the arc at the 14:05 mark to give USA the lead.  The Lady Jag defense then extended the lead as USA forced two-straight turnovers with FAU inbounding the ball under the basket.  El and Veronica Cherizol converted those two opportunities with layups and South Alabama held a 13-7 advantage at the 13:20 mark, following the basket from Cherizol.

The Owls answered right back though and tied the contest back up at 15-15 when Smith knocked down a trey of her own from straight away with just under 10 minutes to go in the half.  

USA was able to retake the lead two minutes later when Meghan Dunn found an opening towards the basket and laid the ball off the glass to put the Jaguars back on top by two (17-15).  South Alabama kept control and took a 27-19 lead with under three to go on a Sharon Sanders trey from the right corner.  

South Alabama held the momentum over the final minutes and headed into the locker room with the seven-point lead at the intermission.

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 is now 9-6 in the all-time series and 8-5 under head coach Rick Pietri versus Florida Atlantic.  FAU is also now 5-3 in the series in Boca Raton.  USA is also now 15-14 all-time in Sun Belt Conference road openers and 7-6 in those games under Pietri.  Senior guard Camille Reynolds returned to the South Alabama lineup after missing the previous three games after sustaining a concussion. Junior forward Ronneka Robertson also celebrated her 21st birthday on Wednesday.  The 51.8 field-goal percentage by the Owls and the 62.5 second-half field-goal percentage were both season-highs by an opponent versus the Lady Jags this season.  The 26 turnovers by South Alabama against Florida Atlantic tied a season-high first set against Tennessee State.  The 3-of-12 showing at the free-throw line against FAU was also a season low for USA.  The game versus the Owls also marked the first time this season that USA has held a lead at the half, but gone on to lose.

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