Box Score - Florida International 58, South Alabama 55 (.pdf)
MIAMI – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team battled in its regular-season finale Saturday afternoon, but Florid International was able to pick up a 58-55 overtime victory over the Lady Jags at U.S. Century Bank Arena.
(Florida International) has won 20-games for a reason,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “We had a shot at the end of regulation to win it. We also had a reasonable opportunity in overtime to win it with under 10 seconds and we don’t finish the play. Our teams need players to make plays and we struggle making offensive plays at pivotal times sometimes and today was one of those occasions. I thought out effort was great for 41 out of the 45 minutes. Unfortunately in a one-possession game like this one was, those four minutes that you weren’t playing at your peek can cost you.
USA (16-12, 9-7 SBC) will now begin preparation for the Sun Belt Conference tournament to be held March 3-6 in Hot Springs, Ark. The Jaguar women fall into the fourth-seed from the East Division and will take on Arkansas State – the fifth seed from the West – in the first round of the tournament on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Florida International improves to 20-9 overall and 10-6 in the league with the win and will be the third seed from the East.
Mansa El led the Lady Jags offensively with 17 points. The game marked the 18th time that El has registered in double figures this season. Junior guard posted her second-straight double digit outing with 16 points. Nixon was a perfect 3-of-3 from the three-point line for USA. Taylor Ammons recorded her ninth double figure rebounding game of the season and sixth in conference action.
Jerica Coley led all players with 25 points – her 19th game this season with 20 or more points, 14 of which coming in the second half and the extra session. Fanni Hutlassa – who was one of two FIU seniors honored before the game – added 14 points, while Finda Mansare chipped in with 12 points of her own.
The key stat of the night came at the charity stripe where the Panthers were a perfect 20-for-20 at the stripe. USA was just 11-of-22 and 2-of-6 in overtime. Coley led Florida International in that category as she was 12-of-12.
Both clubs struggled from the field as they each shot just 29 percent from the floor.
Florida International held an early 9-6 advantage after a three-pointer from Coley and a jumper from Mansare with just under 14 minutes remaining in the opening period of play. The Mansare bucket though would be the last for the Panthers over the next eight-and-a-half minutes as the Lady Jag defense cause FIU – the league’s top shooting team – to miss its next eight shots and turn the ball over five times.
Riding the momentum of its defense, USA began to get hot from the floor as El sparked a 21-2 run for Jaguars. The redshirt junior got things started with five-straight points for South Alabama – a three-pointer and a pair of free throws. Camille Reynolds then drained a trey of her own and Veronica Cherizol added an offensive put back. South Alabama added two more three-pointers – one apiece from El and Nixon – to give USA a 15-point advantage (26-11) at the 7:24 mark. A little over a minute later, Nixon would hit one of her two attempts at the foul line to extend the Jaguar lead to 27-11.
With South Alabama shooting well, the Panthers came out of their man defense and went zone. The defensive change would slow USA down as the Lady Jags didn’t record a field goal the final seven-plus minutes of the first half.
Trailing by 16, FIU turned to its top two offensive weapons in Coley and Hutlassa as the duo led a 13-1 Panther run to end the period. Coley and Hutlassa combined for all 13 of Florida International’s points during the run, recording eight and five respectively.
Coley’s jumper at the 5:15 mark was the first field goal for FIU in eight-and-a-half minutes. The All-American candidate would then add a pair of free throws on the Panthers’ next possession. With less than three minutes to go before the intermission, Hutlassa knocked down a three-pointer and then added a pair of free throws of her own. Coley closed out the first have with four free throws in the final minute to send FIU into the locker room trailing by just four (28-24).
El led all scorers during the first 20 minutes of play with 12 of her 17 points. She was 4-of-8 in the period.
Riding the momentum of closing the first half strong, FIU continued to hold to control things early in the second half as the Panthers opened on a 10-3 run over first four minutes and took a 35-31 lead on a basket from Mansare.
“We lost it really in the first four minutes of the second half,” Pietri said. “(FIU) came out with more energy than us to start the second half. After that first media (time out) of the second half though, we played with the right energy. We came back and took the lead from them. From there, it was just a hard-fought game.”
USA answered the Florida International run with six-straight points to retake the lead 37-35. El hit a pull up jumper at the 14:25 mark and a minute later, Ronneka Robertson knocked down turnaround jumper in the post. On South Alabama’s next possession, Veronica Cherizol – who had eight points – gave the Lady Jags the two-point advantage when she grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a pair of free throws after being fouled by Mansare.
The six unanswered points for USA were part of an11-2 run for the Jags over a four-plus minute stretch. South Alabama capped off the run and took a 42-37 lead on a Lauren Walker three-pointer from the right corner.
FIU though would come right back and retake the lead after a trey in transition from Coley and a pair of free throws from the nation’s third-leading scorer. The three-pointer from Coley began string of 10-straight points for the sophomore all-conference player. Coley capped off her own run with another three-pointer, this one after she worked herself free at the top of the key to put FIU out in front 49-48 with just over two minutes to go.
The lead didn’t last long for the Panthers as Nixon answered the Coley bucket with a three-pointer of her own from the left wing on USA’s ensuing possession.
On FIU’s next possession though with just over a minute to play, Hutlassa was able to draw a foul and went to the line for two more free throws that tied the contest back up at 51-51.
With the contest tied and the Panthers with the ball and under 20 seconds remaining on the clock, South Alabama’s defense came up big as the Jags drew a charge from Coley, giving USA the ball and the opportunity to hold for the last shot in regulation. With time winding down, Peterson g was able to get off a good luck with two seconds remaining, but the ball was off the mark and the two clubs headed into overtime.
In the extra session, both clubs would struggle from the field as they went a combined 2-for-15, but as was the case throughout the game, the free throw line would be the difference as FIU hit all four of its attempts, while USA was just 2-of-6. The Panthers made their lone field goal of the extra period count as Carmen Miloglav found Hutlassa open for her second trey of the evening with one minute, 12 seconds showing on the clock to break a 53-53 tie. With under a minute to play, Nixon drove the lane for a layup to trim the deficit 56-55 and with 19 seconds to go, Nixon was then able to force a turnover around midcourt when the Panthers were attempting to inbound the ball. The inbounds pass was deflected and Nixon tied up Miloglav to force the turnover as USA had the possession arrow. After a 30-second time out, Nixon came off a screen and again drove to the basket, but this time her shot was just short. Florida International’s Zsofia Labady grabbed the rebound and Coley received her outlet pass. Forced to foul, the Lady Jags sent Coley to the line for a pair where she converted both with 5.2 seconds on the clock. USA had one last chance to tie the game up and send it to another overtime, but El’s half-court heave was off the mark as the Panthers held on to take the three-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: South Alabama falls to 11-15 in the series and 4-8 in Miami in the all-time series versus Florida International in the loss. The game was the first overtime game between the two programs in the series. The loss also dropped the Lady Jags into the fourth seed in the East and moved FIU into the third seed in the division. USA will now open up the 2012 Sun Belt Conference tournament with the West’s fifth seed, Arkansas State, on Saturday (March 3) in Hot Springs, Ark. The overtime game was the second of the season for the Lady Jags. They are now 10-17 all-time in the extra session and 3-13 in league overtime games. With her 10 rebounds, senior forward Taylor Ammons has now recorded eight or more rebounds in 11 of her 16 SBC games – including six in double figures. With her 17 points, USA’s Mansa El has now recorded double figures in 18 of her last 26 outings. The four-point halftime lead marked the 12th time in conference play this season that USA has led at the break (7-5). After posting 17 points on Wednesday at FAU and 16 points on Saturday at FIU, Mary Nixon has now recorded double figures nine times this season – eight coming in SBC games.
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