Box Score - Florida International 50, South Alabama 46 (.pdf)

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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team trailed by as much as 18 points in the second half, but saw its rally attempt in the final period come up short as Florida International held on to pick up a 50-46 victory over the Lady Jags Sunday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.

“Obviously, the box score tells you we were down 28-12 at halftime,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “We did what we had to do to fight back and give ourselves a chance. We were down two with 12 seconds left underneath the goal.  I thought we had executed pretty well to give ourselves a chance, and a foul was called. Then the best player in the league (Jerica Coley) steps up and makes two free throws to make it a four-point game with 12 seconds to go. We get an open look, don’t make it, and that’s the game.  For whatever reason, we struggled in the first half, and then in the second half we shoot almost 48 percent.”

USA (12-8, 5-6 SBC) will now head back out on the road for a pair of games beginning with Arkansas State on Wednesday night.

Mary Nixon – playing in her first game since suffering a concussion versus Louisiana-Monroe – came off the bench and led South Alabama with 11 points.  She was 3-of-6 from the field and 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.  All 11 of Nixon’s points came in the second half.

Meghan Dunn and Brianna Wright finished just shy of double figures with nine points apiece.  Wight and Ronneka Robertson also led USA on the glass with six boards each.  

FIU improved to 13-7 overall and 7-5 in the league with the win.  Jerica Coley the Sun Belt and the nation’s leading scorer led all players with 31 points in the win.  The junior was 12-of-19 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.  The 31 points were Coley’s third-straight and eighth 30-point game of the season.   

Marita Davydova also chipped in 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting for the Panthers.

The key stat of the game was on the glass where FIU held a 38-29 advantage, but limited USA to just five offensive rebounds.  The Jaguars entered the game averaging 13.9 per outing.

South Alabama struggled on the offensive end during the first half, shooting just 21.7 percent, but bounced back in the second period of play, knocking down 11 of its 23 attempts for 47.8 percent.  USA was 16-of-46 in the game for 34.8 percent.

FIU shot 42.3 percent in the first half, but was held to 33.3 percent shooting in the second and finished 38.0 percent (19-of-50) for the game.  

Led by the play early on of Coley and Carmen Miloglav, the Panthers took the early advantage, jumping out to a 10-2 lead midway through the first half.  USA, as it would for most of the first half, struggled at the offensive end of the floor, making just one of its first 10 shot attempts.  The Jags also turned the ball over five times during that same stretch.

South Alabama pulled to within five with just under nine minutes remaining in the period after a layup from Mansa El and a three-pointer from the left corner by Brittany Webb to trim the deficit to 12-7.  Prior to the Webb bucket, USA had been 0-for-7 from the arc.

Holding a six-point lead (14-8) a minute later, Coley helped FIU take its largest lead of the half as the Panthers erupted on a 14-4 run over the next six minutes.  Coley led the charge as she added 10 more points to her first-half tally during the run, including an off-balanced layup at the two minutes mark to put Florida International up 28-12.  That is where the two clubs would remain over the remainder of the period.

Coley was outstanding during the first 20 minutes of play, knocking down seven of her 10 shot attempts to finish with 16 points.  

As a team, South Alabama was unable to really get anything going offensively, connecting on just five of its 23 field-goal opportunities for 21.7 percent.  The 12 first-half points were a new season low for the club.  USA was also just 1-of-10 from beyond the three-point line in the half.

Coming out of the intermission, Florida International held control over the first part of the second half, extending its lead out to as much as 18 (38-20) flowing a layup from Davydova with 12 minutes, 24 seconds left on the clock.

Two minutes later Coley knocked down another jumper to make it 40-23 with just over 10 to go, but feeding off its defensive pressure, USA finally found some offense and reeled off six-straight points to trim the deficit to 40-29 at the 7:48 mark.  Nixon narrowed the deficit to 11 when the senior forced a turnover raced down the court for a layup.

Following a 30-second time out, the Panthers briefly regained the momentum as Coley found Davydova open down low for a bucket and then recorded a steal and layup of her own to stretch the FIU lead back out to 15 (44-29) with  just over seven minutes remaining.

Dunn later sparked USA with a jumper and a three from the top of the key with five minutes to go, pulling USA to within 10 at 44-34.  After a pair of Coley free throws, USA finally got the deficit under double figures after another Nixon layup.

On the ensuing possession, Coley caught the Jaguar defense napping and went back door for a layup of her own with two minutes, 10 seconds showing on the clock, but South Alabama continued to fight back.

Dunn drained another trey on USA’s next possession and with a minute to go, Wright hit a turnaround jumper in the lane.  South Alabama then got another defensive stop and with 12.5 seconds remaining, Nixon drove towards the hoop and was fouled.  The senior guard hit both attempts and brought the Lady Jags within a basket (48-46).

On the inbounds though, USA was called for a foul and Coley went to the line and hit both ends of a one-and-one opportunity to stretch the lead back out to four.  South Alabama missed its final shot and FIU came down with the rebound to preserve the 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 11-17 in the all-time series versus the Panthers.  FIU has now won the last four meetings.  USA, which ranked 10th in the nation in three-point field-goal defense held the Panthers to 0-of-6 shooting from the arc in the game.  USA’s Mary Nixon returned from injury versus FIU and led the Lady Jags with 11 points. FIU’s Finde Mansare (concussion) and Diamond Ashmore (leg) didn’t play or make the trip for the Panthers as they both missed the game due to injury.  The 12 first-half points by South Alabama versus FIU were a season low, eclipsing the previous mark of 15 (at Cal State Northridge – 11/23).  The five offensive rebounds pulled down by USA in the game were also a new season-low. With the 46 points, South Alabama has now been held below the 50-point plateau six times this season and five time in Sun Belt play.

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