Box Score - Florida International 63, South Alabama 49 (.pdf)

MIAMI – Florida International’s Jerica Coley posted a game-high 28 points – 16 of which coming in the second half – to lead the Panthers to a 63-49 Sun Belt Conference victory Saturday night over the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team at the U.S. Century Bank Arena.

“For the second-consecutive game, I thought we played a reasonably good first half,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “In the second half, we started out well and made some good plays to take the lead and then we stopped making open shots.  We completely shut it down from the perimeter with the open looks we had.  We also could not manage guarding Jerica Coley.  It was a combination of individual match ups and a combination of poor team defense in terms of our plan on how to manage her.  It was a plan that was reasonably good for us last year even though we loss both of them – which were both one-possession games not like tonight.  The season is still very early and we have a lot of work to do, but I do believe this team’s capable of winning games in this league.”

USA (5-3, 0-2 SBC) will now return home to host Spring Hill on Tuesday with tip-off set for 5:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.  FIU improves to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Sun Belt with the win.  

Mary Nixon led the Lady Jags with nine points in the loss.  Brianna Wright chipped in with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and had a block and a steal.  All eight of her points came in the first period of play as she got into early foul trouble in the second half.  Mansa El and Veronica Cherizol also added seven points each.  Ronneka Robertson led USA on the glass with eight rebounds.  She has now recorded six or more rebounds in six of her eight games this season.

South Alabama shot 41.4 percent in the first half, but struggled in the second stanza, hitting just nine of its 29 attempts for 31 percent.  USA finished 21-of-58 from the field (36.2 percent) and was just 5-for-26 from the arc for 19.2 percent.

Coley – the reigning SBC Player of the Week and Player of the Year – was outstanding for the Panthers, hitting 13 of her 21 attempts from the floor.  She also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out seven assists.

Finda Mansare also registered double figures for FIU, ending the night with 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting.  She also had seven rebounds and two blocks.

The Panthers shot over 50 percent in both halves and finished 28-for-54 from the field for 51.9 percent.  

USA held an 11-9 advantage with just over 12 minutes to go in the opening period of play following a layup from Wright.  Less than a minute later, Marita Davydova picked up a loose ball for the Panthers and Kamika Idom knocked down a 12-foot jumper to tie things up.  The Idom bucket also ignited a 13-2 run for Florida International over the next three minutes of play.  Mansare – who had six of the Panthers’ points during the scoring spurt – capped off the run and put FIU up 22-13 with a put back of a missed foul shot by Davydova at the 8:37 mark.

On its next possession, USA responded back and began to chip away at the deficit.  Veroinca Cherizol, playing in her hometown, drained a three-pointer from straight-away.  Diamonisha Sophus later cut the lead to one (24-23) with four minutes, 35 seconds showing on the clock when the freshman drove towards the basket and converted the three-point play.  Sophus and Cherizol had all 10 of the Jaguars’ points in the rally.

South Alabama had a few chances to retake the lead of the next few minutes and finally were able to when Mary Nixon found Wright open in the post for another bucket with just over a minute to play.  

The lead didn’t last long though as on the ensuing possession, Zsofia Labady was fouled on a baseline jumper.  She knocked down the basket and hit the free-throw to put FIU back up one and eventually send the Panthers into the locker room with the 31-29 halftime lead.

Both clubs shot well in the opening half.  FIU was 14-of-28 from the field (50.0 percent), while USA was 12-of-29 for 41.4 percent.

Cooley posted 12 of her 28 points in the first half to lead the way for FIU.  Wright also had eight for the Jaguars during the first 20 minutes of play.

In the second half, South Alabama came out led by two on a couple of occasions, the last coming with just over 17 minutes showing on the clock when Nixon’s layup made it 37-35.  

A little over a minute later, Coley would take over for the Panthers and ignite a 14-0 run for Florida International.  Coley’s jumper at the 15:17 mark ignited the run and tied the contest up at 37-37.  On FIU’s next possession, Coley grabbed a missed shot by the Jaguars and threw the ball ahead to Carmen Miloglav for a layup, giving the Panthers the lead.  Coley added two more buckets during the run and found Miloglav open for another bucket in the paint at the 8:19 mark to give FIU a 12-point advantage (49-37).  

El ended the seven-minute scoreless drought for the Lady Jags with a 12-foot jumper with just under eight minutes to go.  

USA kept battling and pulled two within seven (51-44) with a trey by Meghan Dunn from the left corner at the 6:21 mark.  South Alabama kept the deficit around single digits over the next several minutes, but FIU was able to hold the Jags scoreless over the final three minutes and went on to take the 14-point victory.

Coley was big for FIU in the final period of play, hitting seven of her 11 shots and pulling down six of her rebounds.  

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 loss to Florida International, South Alabama drops to 11-16 in the all-time series.  FIU has now won five of the last six meetings in the series, including each of the last three.  South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri is 10-11 all-time versus the Panthers.  USA is now 7-8 all time in games played on Dec. 1.  After getting off to a 4-0 start, USA has now dropped three of its last four games.  The 0-2 start to league play is the first for the Lady Jags since the 2010-11 season and eighth in the program’s history (2012-13, 2010-11, 2006-07, 1999-2000, 1997-98, 1995-96, 1994-95, 1993-94).  The 28 points by FIU’s Jerica Coley are the most by a Lady Jag opponent this season.  With her eight rebounds versus Florida International, junior forward Ronneka Robertson has now had six or more rebounds in six of her eight games this season.
 
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