Box Score - Florida Atlantic 41, South Alabama 40 (.pdf)
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team struggled to find its offensive touch Wednesday evening as the Lady Jags shot just 29.4 percent from the floor and dropped a heartbreaking 41-40 Sun Belt Conference decision to Florida Atlantic at FAU Arena.
“We’re not the same team on the road as we are at home,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “Our intensity level’s not the same. Our concentration level’s not the same. We had multiple opportunities tonight to make plays. We had wide-open perimeter looks in the second half and wide-open opportunities next to the goal that we couldn’t put in. Both teams played hard. FAU wanted it and we wanted it, they just made a few fewer mistakes than we did, because it was a mistake-filled game. It’s an incredibly disappointing loss. We’ll see where we go from here.”
USA (16-11, 9-6 SBC) will now close out the regular season on Saturday when the Lady Jags travel to Florida International. Tip-off versus the Panthers is set for 4:30 p.m. (CT) at US Century Bank Arena. Florida Atlantic moves into sole possession of second place with the win after improving to 15-11 and 10-5 in the league with the victory.
South Alabama still holds a slim opportunity to climb into the second seed for next month’s tournament. In order to move into that position, USA will need to defeat FIU on Saturday and have Troy upset the Owls in Boca Raton.
Mary Nixon led all scorers as she tied a career high with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The Pensacola, Fla., native also pulled down six rebounds. Sarda Peterson chipped in with eight points for South Alabama.’
The Owls were led by the post due of April Goins and Chenise Miller – who each finished in double figures with 13 points apiece. Goins also pulled down nine rebounds, while Miller grabbed eight. Goins was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and 4-for-4 at the foul line, while Miller was 6-of-14 from the field.
Both teams were 15-of-51 from the field and both teams struggled from behind the arc. USA was just 3-for-18 in that category for 16.7 percent, while FAU was 2-of-11 for 18.2 percent shooting.
The difference proved to be the foul line where Florida Atlantic converted nine of its 12 opportunities. South Alabama was 7-of-14 at the charity stripe.
FAU received all of its points early on from its post players as Goins and Miller hit each of their first two shots. Vontrice Dennis gave the Owls a 10-4 lead when the senior broke open toward the basket on an inbounds play at the 13:57 mark.
USA got a little bit of offense going over the next few minutes and pulled within one on a Camille Reynolds three-pointer from the top of the key on the Lady Jags with 11-and-a-half minutes remaining. On South Alabama’s next possession, Reynolds penetrated into the paint and found Taylor Ammons open for a layup with just under 12 minutes showing on the clock in the period to give the Jaguars their first lead of the night.
South Alabama – as was the case for much of the game - went ice cold from that point on and missed its next eight shots from the floor. FAU would take advantage of the offensive struggles by the Lady Jags retake the lead (16-13) after a jumper in the paint from Terri Stamps at the 7:42 mark.
Mansa El finally ended the drought and tied the contest back up at 16-16 when the redshirt junior knocked down a trey from the right win at the 4:46 mark. The three-pointer by El also ignited an 11-2 run for South Alabama to end the first half.
With under a minute to play, DaLita Scott ended a seven-minute scoreless streak and pulled the Owls to within three (21-18) when she drove the lane and got a jumper to bounce in with 29 seconds to go, but Peterson – who had been without a field goal for the period – came up big in the closing seconds as she drained a three-pointer from the right corner to send USA into the locker room with a 24-18 half time advantage.
Nixon – who had seven points during the first 20 minutes of action – recorded USA’ s first two baskets of the second half and gave the Lady Jags a 28-21 two minutes into the period.
Following the baskets from Nixon though, USA would again go cold offensively as over the next four-plus minutes, the Jaguars would record just one point.
The Owls took advantage and began to chip away at the Lady Jags’ lead. FAU was able to get as close as three on a couple of occasions, the last coming after a layup from Miller at the 11:07 mark, but Nixon – who had 10 of her 17 points in the final period – drove into the pain and go a jumper of her own to fall in and push USA back out to a 33-28 lead.
FAU would narrow the deficit to two (33-31) on its ensuing possession after a three-pointer by Stamps.
Over the next several minutes, South Alabama didn’t let the Owls draw any closer than two points as the Jaguars were able to get the needed defensive stops. However, shooting just 29.2 percent in the second half and committing 13 of its 22 turnovers, USA could not take advantage and extend the margin out.
With five minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the period, Goins was able to draw a foul after pulling down an offensive board. She stepped to the line and hit both opportunities to trim FAU’s deficit to 38-37.
On South Alabama’s next possession, USA crashed the glass and kept the possession alive with a pair of offensive rebounds. Nixon then worked off a screen and knocked down another jumper in the lane to push the lead out to 40-37.
The score remained there for the next three-and-a-half minutes as neither club could do anything, but with just over a minute showing, Miller grabbed her third offensive board of the game and laid the ball back in the net to again bring FAU within a point (40-39).
After turning the ball over with under a minute, the Lady Jags were able to come up with a needed defensive stop. Stamps jumper with 16 seconds was off the mark and Ammons came down with the rebound for the Lady Jags. Before she could outlet the ball though, the Lady Jag forward was fouled and headed to the line for a one-and-one opportunity with 12.1 seconds to go. Ammons, however missed the front end and while going for the rebound, fouled FAU’s Kimberly Smith. With the Owls in the double bonus, Smith stepped to the line with 11.7 seconds and hit both to give Florida Atlantic its first lead (41-40) since five minutes to go in the first half.
After calling a 30 second time out, USA had four good opportunities in the closing seconds. Nixon drove the left side of the lane and missed a layup. Veronica Cherizol grabbed the rebound and had a put back opportunity of her own that bounced off the rim. With 0.5 seconds remaining, the loose ball deflected off an Owl player giving USA one last chance. On a baseline inbounds play, Reynolds came off a screen and got a good luck, but the shot would not fall as FAU held on to take the one-point victory.
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, South Alabama falls to 9-5 in the all-time series and has its three-game series-win streak snapped. USA is now 3-4 in the series in Boca Raton. Florida Atlantic now moves into sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt’s East Division. With her one three-pointer, South Alabama senior guard Sarda Peterson is just one away from tying Stephanie Richardson’s career mark of 175. With its six-point halftime lead, USA has now led in 11 of its Sun Belt games (7-4). South Alabama still holds a slim opportunity to climb into the second seed for next month’s tournament. In order to move into that position, USA will need to defeat FIU on Saturday and have Troy upset the Owls in Boca Raton. Should FAU win, USA will take the third seed with a win over FIU and the fourth seed with a loss.
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