Box Score - South Alabama 55, Louisiana-Monroe 45 (.pdf)

MONROE, La. – The freshmen duo of Brianna Wright and Diamonisha Sophus combined for 10 of South Alabama’s 13 points during a pivotal second-half run to lead the Lady Jag basketball team to a 55-45 Sun Belt Conference win over Louisiana-Monroe Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

“We trailed this game for 32 minutes, from the start to about the seven-and-a-half minute mark of the second half,
 South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “Really, (the run) was spurred on by our defense.  We weren’t playing with a lot of energy in the first half.  We allowed them to shoot 47 percent, which for us is an awful percentage to surrender.  In the second half, our defensive energy was much better.  We only surrendered 27 percent in the second half.  We also made some offensive plays.  We had a miserable time making those plays in the first half.  We made some of those plays in the second half and got fouled and made free throws.  That was a big deal for us, because we haven’t been shooting free throws well lately.  (Diamonisha) Sophus and “Bre” (Brianna) Wright did a great job for us tonight and Camille Reynolds hit a big three in the corner that kind of extended it and was really the dagger for us.  I’m excited for our players to get this road win.  Now we just have to move forward.”

USA (9-5, 2-3 SBC) will now return home to host Middle Tennessee on Saturday with tip-off versus the Blue Raiders set for 5:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.  Warhawks fall to 2-11 on the season and 0-4 in the Sun Belt.

Mansa El led the Jaguars with 12 points and hit all four of her free throw opportunities in the final minute to seal the victory for USA.  She also added three steals and five rebounds in the win.  Wright came off the bench and dropped in 11 points – seven of which coming in the second half – while also pulling down seven rebounds.  Sophus added seven points of her own – all in the final period – and was 2-of-4 from the floor and 3-for-3 at the charity stripe.  Mary Nixon also added seven points and eight rebounds for the Jags.

After hitting just six of their 18 attempts at the foul line versus Arkansas State, USA was much better versus the Warhawks, hitting 18 of its 21 attempts for 76.2 percent.

Despite shooting just 33.3 percent from the field for the game, South Alabama held a huge advantage in two categories.  The Lady Jag reserves outscored the Warkhawk bench 26-2 and held a 16-3 advantage in second-chance points, pulling down 16 offensive rebounds.  

ULM placed two players in double figures led by Ashleigh Simmons’ 12 points.  Simmons was just 3-of-9 from the floor, but 6-of-9 at the stripe.  She also had a team-high eight boards in the loss.  Alexar Tuglar chipped in with 10 points and seven rebouns of her own.

South Alabama struggled for much of the first half at the offensive end and opened up the game, hitting just two of its first 14 attempts from the field.  ULM took advantage of the Jaguars’ offensive difficulties and jumped out to a 7-0 run just two-and-a-half minutes of the contest.  The Warhawks took the seven-point lead on Jasmine Shaw’s layup.

With USA continuing to have trouble converting at the offensive end, Louisiana-Monroe was able to stretch its lead out to double digits later in the period when Tuglar knocked down her second three-pointer of the half at the 9:12 mark.  

South Alabama trimmed the Warhawk lead to five (17-12) a minute-and-a-half later, but ULM answered right back with five quick points to extend its lead back out to 22-12 with six minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the period on an acrobatic shot by Simmons in the paint.

The Lady Jags came right back though and began to cut into the ULM advantage over the next four minutes. Wright began the 8-0 run for USA with a jumper along the left baseline at the 5:30 mark.  South Alabama them pulled within two (23-21) with two minutes, 32 seconds to go after three-pointers from Meghan Dunn and El.

With South Alabama still down two (25-23) after a layup from Nixon, ULM’s Jae Shin drove the lane for a basket with 43 seconds on the clock to send the Warhawks into the break with a 27-23 advantage.  

USA was just 9-of-30 during the first 20 minutes of action for 30.0 percent, while ULM connected on 10 of their 21 attempts for 47.6 percent.  

Led by Simmons, who registered six of ULM’s first 10 points of the second half, the Warhawks maintained control over the first six minutes and led by as much as six on two occasions.  

Trailing 36-30 with less than 15 to go, USA began to battle back and pulled to within one (36-35) when El drained her second trey of the contest at the 13:20 mark.  South Alabama then tied the contest back up at 37-37 on a pair of free throws from Wright a minute later.  

The rally attempt looked as if it might end there for the Lady Jags as they turned the ball over on their next two possessions with a chance to take the lead.  With eight minutes, 10 seconds remaining, ULM stretched its lead back out to 41-37 after a Simmons layup.

Coming out of the under-eight media time out, Sophus provided a spark for the Lady Jags with five straight points, the last three coming on an and-one play at the 7:19 mark, giving USA a 42-41 advantage.  After a ULM bucket from Alayshia Hunter a little over a minute later, it was Wright’s turn to reel off five-straight points for USA as the freshman post player hit a jumper in the paint and three of her four attempts at the foul line to extend the lead out to 47-43.  On South Alabama’s next possession, Wright found Camille Reynolds open in the left corner.  The senior came up big for the Lady Jags as her long-range attempt found the bottom of the net, extending the lead out to seven (50-43) with just over four minutes to go, capping off the 13-2 Jaguar run.  

From there, the Lady Jag defense remained solid, not allowing ULM to draw any closer.  El clinched the win for USA, hitting all four of her free-throw attempts in the final 46 seconds.  

Over the final eight minutes of the game, the South Alabama defense forced six turnovers and held the Warhawks to just 2-of-11 shooting.

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 10-5 in the all-time series and are 5-2 in games played in Monroe.  USA is also 8-4 overall and 4-2 in Monroe under head coach Rick Pietri.  With its three three-pointers, ULM is just the fifth team this season to hit more than two treys versus the Lady Jags.  For the first time in eight games, junior forward Ronneka Robertson did not record seven or more rebounds.  The three rebounds were the fewest that she has pulled down in a game this season.  USA has now held its last three opponents – UALR (49), Arkansas State (47) and Louisiana-Monroe (45) below the 50-point mark.  South Alabama has held six opponents this season below that mark.

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