Box Score - South Alabama 61, Louisiana-Monroe 51 (.pdf)
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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team pulled down a season-high 50 rebounds and scored 27 second-chance points Wednesday night as the Lady Jags picked up a 61-51 Sun Belt Conference victory over Louisiana-Monroe at the Mitchell Center.
The 50-rebound game is the first for USA since snagging 56 in last season’s first round Sun Belt tournament win over Arkansas State. South Alabama also had 20 offensive rebounds since pulling down 22 versus Southern Miss back on Nov. 16.
“I was really disappointed in how we started the game,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “We got a basket right out of the box and I thought that would catapult us, but our defensive energy wasn’t where it needed to be. That bothered me. It took us a while before we got it revved up to where it needed to be. We credit Louisiana-Monroe, because they came out juiced and ready to play. The last 30 minutes of the game, I thought we defended the way we’re capable of, but in the first 10, we just didn’t have the right zest to guard.
“We’ve talked about how important it is to approach things with confidence and belief. We had trouble early putting the ball in the goal when we had reasonable scoring chances. That’s a problem we’ve been having, and it continued to suck the life out of us. We did reasonably well from that point forward, and defensively our energy was where it needed to be for the rest of the game. In the second half, we defended the way our teams defend, and we held them to 29% in the second half. So we take the win and move on.”
USA (11-7, 4-5 SBC) will return to the court one week from the day when the Lady Jags host Western Kentucky, who entered play this week tied with Middle Tennessee for first-place in the SBC East Division. Tip-off versus the Lady Toppers is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.
Mansa El recorded a game-high 16 points on 4-of-10 shooting and 6-of-8 shooting at the foul line. The effort was her fourth double-figure scoring outing in her last five. The senior guard also tied a career-high with nine rebounds in 35 minutes of action.
USA also received a couple of key performances off the bench as Meghan Dunn finished with 12 points. Dunn was 4-for-8 from the three-point line. Brianna Wright also chipped in with eight points and six rebounds. USA’s reserves outscored the Warhawk bench 23-9 in the contest.
Along with El’s nine rebounds, Ronneka Robertson also carded her fourth double-figure rebounding game of the season with 11 rebounds – seven on the offensive glass – and Veronica Cherizol just missed double figures on the glass as she had nine boards.
ULM (3-14, 1-7 SBC) was led by Ashleigh Simmons’ fourth double-double of the season. Simmons had 14 points and 13 rebounds in the loss. Jasmine Shaw just missed a double-double of her own with 10 points and nine rebounds.
After allowing 16 three-pointers over the last two games, USA’s perimeter defense held ULM to just 3-of-13 shooting from the arc in the game.
South Alabama came out and scored on its first possession when Mary Nixon drove the lane for a layup, but over the next six minutes, the Lady Jags’ offensive struggles would creep back as they would miss their next 10 shots from the floor.
ULM – who began the contest hitting four of its first eight attempts – took advantage and rattled off 10 uanswered points to take an eight-point lead (10-2) after a bucket from Simmons at the 15:51 mark. Simmons would go on to score eight points for the Warhawks in the first period of play.
USA trimmed the deficit to 12-6 a little less than three minutes later on a floater in the lane from Mansa El, but Louisiana-Monroe answered back and quickly stretched the lead back out to 12 (18-6) on a jumper from Sharnice Brooks with just under 12 minutes to play.
The Lady Jags again came back and trimmed the deficit to 18-11 with 10 minutes, 22 seconds showing on the clock after a trey from the right corner from Megan Dunn and a put back by Robertson, but ULM again ended the Jaguar threat and took its largest lead of the game at 24-11 after a layup from Jasmine Shaw with seven minutes, eight seconds to go in the opening period of play.
A minute later it was Nixon again who provided a spark for the Lady Jags as she drove the lane for a bucket, igniting a 16-2 run for South Alabama over the remainder of the half. Dunn and Veronica Cherizol followed the Nixon basket with a pair of three-pointers on USA’s next two possessions. USA later pulled within one possession after a free throw from Brianna Wright and with under two minutes to go, the Lady Jags finally reclaimed the lead after a Nixon bucket and foul shot from Breanna Hall at the 1:14 mark. Hall completed the three-point play after Nixon was fouled and landed hard, hitting her head on the floor. Nixon would not return to the game.
Holding a one-point lead coming out of the intermission, South Alabama continued its strong play as the Lady Jags began the final period of play on a 15-2 run. El began the scoring for USA with a jumper at the 18:22 mark. Later in the run, El made an outstanding interior pass when she found Wright underneath for a layup. Wright was fouled on the play and converted the and-one opportunity with just over 13 minutes remaining on the clock to increase the Jaguar lead to double figures (38-28). A minute later, Dunn capped off the run and gave USA its largest lead when she drained another three, this one from the left wing, putting South Alabama up 42-28.
USA looked to have a comfortable lead, but the Warhawks quickly cut the deficit to six as over the next two minutes they rattled off an 8-0 run. Shaw narrowed the margin to 42-36 when she drained her second three-pointer of the game from the top of the key with less than 10 to go.
South Alabama extended the lead back out to double digits (46-36) after a pair of free throws from El, but Louisiana-Monroe pulled to within seven (46-39) after three free throws from Elexar Tuglar with six minutes, 57 seconds left in regulation.
That was as close as the Lady Jags would allow ULM to get the rest of the way as they put the game away with an 8-0 spurt. El began the scoring with a trey of her own and after a put back from Cherizol, Dunn sealed things and extended the USA advantage back out to 15 (54-39) when she connected on her fourth three-pointer of the night.
From there, South Alabama never allowed its lead to get below double figures as the Lady Jags went on to take the 10-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 win, South Alabama improves to 11-5 in the all-time series with Louisiana-Monroe. USA head coach Rick Pietri is now 9-4 versus the Warhawks. Redshirt freshman Rachel Cumbo – who missed all of the 2011-12 season and the first 17 games of this season after suffering a pair of knee injuries – dressed out for the first time in her collegiate career versus ULM. Mary Nixon left the game in the first half after suffering a concussion. She will be reevaluated this week. The 61 points by the Lady Jags versus Louisiana-Monroe marked the first time USA has scored 60 or more points since scoring 71 versus Sam Houston State on Dec. 8. The 50-rebound game was the first for USA since snagging 56 in last season’s first round Sun Belt tournament win over Arkansas State. South Alabama also had 20 offensive rebounds since pulling down 22 versus Southern Miss back on Nov. 16. Mansa El tied a career-high with her nine rebounds versus ULM. Ronneka Robertson also carded her fourth double-figure rebounding game of the season with 11 rebounds.
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