Box Score - South Alabama 68, Arkansas State 39 (.pdf)
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MOBILE, Ala. – Redshirt junior guard Mansa El recorded a game-high18 points and junior forward Veronica Cherizol posted her first career double-double off the bench as the University of South Alabama women’s basketball team won its fourth-straight game Wednesday night, defeating Arkansas State 68-39 at the Mitchell Center.
With the win, the Lady Jags improve to 15-9 overall and 8-4 in the Sun Belt. It also marked the 100th Sun Belt Conference victory for Lady Jag head coach Rick Pietri. USA will now travel to take on Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. Tip-off versus the Warhawks is set for noon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Red Wolves drop to 9-15 and 3-8 in the league.
El was 5-of-9 from the floor and 6-for-8 at the charity stripe. The Houston, Texas native also pulled down six assists. Cherizol added 10 points and a career-best 11 rebounds off the bench for the Jaguars. She was 4-of-6 from the floor. Camille Reynolds also notched double digits with 10 points of her own as she was 4-of-6 and 2-of-3 from the arc in 25 minutes of action.
“This was the best game Camille Reynolds has played in a while for us,” Pietri said. “She came off the bench and gave us a lift in the first half. Veronica Cherizol, who had the first double-double of her career, came off the bench and gave us a huge lift. When you have two kids coming off the bench and giving you that kind of production, then good things are going to happen for you.”
One of the big stats of the night was in the rebounding department where USA held a 44-28 advantage. ASU was able to keep it close on the boards for most of the game as they held a 24-23 advantage on the glass at the under 16 media time out. However, led by Cherizol and Ammons – who had 14 rebounds of her own – the Lady Jags closed out the game with a 24-5 advantage in that category. The widening of the margin was never more apparent than from the 15:31 mark of the second half until the 9:05 mark, as USA pulled down 16-straight rebounds. South Alabama controlled the glass in the second period of play as it out rebounded ASU 26-10.
“I expected a grind-out game that would go down to the end, and we’d have to fight it out in the last couple minutes to get a win,” Pietri said. “I have a lot of respect for Arkansas State head coach Brian Boyer, and they have some excellent players. Our kids were exceptionally wired-in for both halves. We’ve had a habit of playing one really good half, then having a half that wasn’t so good; tonight that didn’t happen. We played two halves. We had to bring full effort because Arkansas State had a week off to prepare for this game and we knew they’d have a nice plan and be wired, tight and energized, but our kids handled that energy. We played well defensively, we rebounded the ball, we handled the ball solidly and I’m really pleased with the outcome.”
Jane Morrill was the lone player to end the night in double figures for the Red Wolves as she finished with 16 points. Meghan Lewis chipped in with eight points.
Paced by the play of Cherizol and Reynolds, the Lady Jaguar bench also came up huge, holding a 29-11 advantage over Arkansas State’s reserves.
For the game, USA was 23-of-57 from the field (40.4 percent), while ASU hit just 15 of its 56 shot attempts for 26.8 percent. The Red Wolves were also just 1-of-15 from beyond the arc, with their lone three-pointer not coming until the a little over eight minutes remaining in the contest.
South Alabama came out struggling from the field over the first six-plus minutes as the Lady Jags were able to only connect on one of their first 10 shots from the floor. ASU – which hit three of its first five attempts from the floor – held an early 6-3 advantage during USA’s offensive drought
After getting off to the good start though, Arkansas State would go ice cold from the field as the Red Wolves missed their next 13 field-goal opportunities during a six-minute stretch. ASU did not get its next basket until the 9:28 mark of the first half on a Quinisha McDowell jumper.
The Lady Jags were able to take advantage of the Red Wolves’ offensive woes and turned a three-point deficit into a six-point lead (13-7) as they went on a 10-1 run. Sarda Peterson ignited the run with a trey from the left corner at the 13:32 mark. Three-and-a-half minutes later, Reynolds capped off the Jaguar run with a three-pointer of her own, this one coming from the right corner with just under 10 minutes to go in the half to put USA out in front 13-7.
The Red Wolves trimmed the deficit to four (15-11) with less than nine minutes remaining, but following a layup from Cherizol at the 8:08 mark, El would take over the scoring for the Lady Jags over the next two minutes as she scored eight-straight points and extended South Alabama’s advantage out to 25-13 after knocking down a pair of free throws.
Leading 27-19 with less than three minutes to go in the period, USA closed the half strong, holding the Red Wolves scoreless and reeling off seven unanswered points to head into the locker room up 34-19. Reynolds began the mini run with her second long-range shot of the game. With two minutes, two seconds to go, El grabbed a loose ball rebound and when coast-to-coast for a layup. On the Red Wolves ensuing possession, Jasmine Hunt drove the lane but had her shot blocked by Ammons, beginning another transition opportunity for the Jaguars. Reynolds pulled down the defensive rebound and threw the ball over the ASU defense to Cherizol for a fast break layup at the 1:32 mark.
After beginning the game with the slow start, USA bounced back and finished the first half 12-of-30 from the field for 40 percent. Arkansas State was just 8-for-30 from the floor for 26.7 percent.
El led all scorers over the first 20 minutes of action with 13 of her 18 points, while Morrill had 10 of ASU’s 19 first-half points.
Trailing by 16, Andi Watson knocked down a jumper on ASU’s first possession of the second half, but the Red Wolves offensive struggles would continue as they would go on to miss their next 10 shots.
With ASU struggling, USA put the game away as they ran off a 13-0 run over a six minute stretch. Peterson capped off the run for the Lady Jags when the senior drained back-to-back treys from the left side of the floor to push South Alabama’s lead out to 48-21 with 12:28 to go.
From there Arkansas State had no answer and never cut the deficit below 21 points, as South Alabama eventually led by as much as 30 (67-37) before going on to take the 29-pont 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 win, South Alabama now moves to 8-28 in the all-time series and 7-9 under head coach Rick Pietri. The victory was also the 100th Sun Belt Conference victory of Pietri’s career. The 39 points registered by Arkansas State are the second-fewest allowed by the Lady Jags this season to an opponent. USA has now seven of its last opponents to 57 points or less. The 39 points were the fewest recorded by the Red Wolves in the series since the 2002-03 meeting in which ASU scored 34 points. The 29-point margin of defeat is the largest margin of defeat by either team in the series since ASU picked up a 65-37 win over the Lady Jags in Mobile during the 2004-05 season. The game also marked the third time this season that South Alabama has held an opponent to just one made three-point basket – Ole Miss and Texas San Antonio. With the 34-19 halftime lead, USA has now led at the intermission in eight of its 12 Sun Belt Conference games. After recording 18 points, Mansa El has posted double figures in 15 of her last 22 games. Veronica Cherizol posted her first career double-double with her 10 points and career-high 11 rebounds. The 14 rebounds by Taylor Ammons and the 11 rebounds by Cherizol marked the second time this season and the first since the Northwestern State game (11/21) that USA has had two double-figure rebounders in the same game. Ammons and Mary Nixon grabbed 13 rebounds each in that outing. Ammons continues to be solid on the glass in Sun Belt play. She has now recorded nine rebounds or better in eight of her 12 Sun Belt games this season – finishing in double figures five times.
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