Box Score - Nicholls State 68, South Alabama 60 (.pdf)

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MOBILE, Ala. – Nicholls States Emani White and KK Babin combined to record 49 points as the Colonels picked up a 68-60 win over the University of South Alabama women's basketball team Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center.

White finished with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-18 shooting.  The sophomore guard was also 3-for-6 at the three-point line and 7-of-8 at the charity stripe.  Babin dropped in 23 points and did most of her damage from the outside as she connected on seven of her nine three-point attempts.  The seven three pointers were the most-ever by an opponent in the Mitchell Center, eclipsing the previous mark of six held by three other players, the most recent Western Kentucky's Kenzie Rich on Jan. 6, 2010.

The Jaguars (0-3) will now host Houston Baptist on Monday (Nov. 25) with tip off versus the Huskies set for 7:05 p.m. The 0-3 start to the season is the first for the program since the 1999-00 campaign.

"I thought we came out with a lot of energy and we were ready to go," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "Nicholls State's matchup zone was basically a switching man and it gave us problems. We just turned the ball over too many times, especially in the first half. I thought we had chances in the first half to have a lead and probably even expand on it. I didn't think we were aggressive enough because we only shot one free throw in the first half. I thought we did a better job coming out in the second half. We cut our turnovers down. Defensively, we're supposed to pressure the basketball, but we just didn't. We gave them a chance to line up and shoot some open threes. The ball had a chance to get in, but we just couldn't finish it off. They did a great job of handling the basketball and running down the clock at the end."

Meghan Dunn led South Alabama with 16 points on 6-of10 shooting, including a 3-for-5 performance from long range.  Rachel Cumbo also recorded double digits with a career-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 at the foul line.  Breanna Hall added nine points, while Brittany Webb had six points and six assists.

As a team, South Alabama shot 46 percent from the field for 46 percent.  The Jags were also 8-of-18 from the three-point line, but for the third time this season, the Jaguars struggled to hold onto the ball, committing 25 turnovers, which led to 25 points for Nicholls State.

The Colonels improved to 2-1 on the season with the win and led by the play of White and Babin, knocked down 24 of their 52 shot attempts for 46.2 percent.  NSU was a blistering 13-for-23 from the arc for 56.5 percent.  The 13 three-pointers were the most versus the Jags since Middle Tennessee recorded 14 back on Feb. 21, 2010.

Nicholls State came out and hit its first shot of the contest – a three-pointer by KK Babin – but over the next five-and-a-half minutes the Colonels went cold, missing six-straight and turning the ball over three times.  

After getting off to a slow start itself, South Alabama caught fire, erupting on a 13-0 run over a two-and-a-half minute stretch.  Hall began the run with a trey from the left side at the 16:34 mark of the first half.  Dunn then added a three-pointer of her own on USA's next trip down the floor and the senior then added another basket.  Webb kept the scoring going for the Jags with a trey of her own at the 14:38 mark and Hall capped off the run with a bucket with just over 14 minutes remaining to give South Alabama the 13-3 led.

Jasmine Scott ended the offensive drought for the Colonels on the visitor's ensuing possession.

The Colonels pulled within five (15-10) four minutes later after a three by Jenny Nash from the right corner and a basket in the paint by Marina Lilly.  

Sharon Sanders looked as if she had swung the momentum back to the Jags when the sophomore connected on USA's fourth trey of the half with eight minutes, 13 seconds to play.  However, Nicholls State answered the Sanders basket with eight more points and tied the contest back up at 18-18 on a jumper in the lane by Lilly with just over six minutes showing on the clock.

The Jaguars took a 22-21 lead with three-and-a-half minutes to go before the intermission on a 18-footer by Jenkins.

Over the final two minutes though White, who had been held scoreless over the first 18 minutes of play, came alive and scored all nine points of NSU's 9-2 run to close the half.  Led by the White scoring spurt, the Colonels headed into the locker room with a 30-24 halftime lead.

USA shot the ball well during the first 20 minutes of play, knocking down 10 of its 22 shot attempts, but as has been the case throughout the first two games, the Jags struggled to hold onto the ball as they committed 17 first-half turnovers.

The two clubs traded baskets on their first two possessions of the second period of play.  

Led by Dunn, who recorded nine-straight points during one stretch, the Jaguars battled throughout much of the second half and pulled within three on four different occasions over the next several minutes.  USA's Brittany Webb found Johnson open for a layup with seven minutes, 34 seconds remaining to trim the deficit to three (50-47), but Babin and White combined to reel off NSU's next 10 points and extend the Colonel lead out to 61-51.  Babin and White each had a trey and a two-point bucket during that stretch, with White giving Nicholls the double-digit lead with a three from the right wing at the 5:30 mark.

South Alabama once again fought back and narrowed the gap to five (61-56) after a pair of free throws from Cumbo and another basket in the paint from Johnson, but that would be as close as the Jags would get the rest of the way as the Colonels held on to pick up the eight-point victory.

Like they did much of the game, Babin and White came up with the big shot down the stretch when the Colonels needed it.
The duo each had 17 points apiece during the second period of play.  Babin was 6-of-8 in the final stanza with five of her seven treys.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

NOTES:  The 0-3 start to the season is the first for the program since the 1999-00 season.  The loss snaps a streak of eight-straight home-opening wins for South Alabama.  USA had also won 12 of its last 13 dating back to the 2000-01 season.  It is also the first loss to Nicholls State in the series since the 1997-98 season when the Colonels picked up a 69-68 win in Thibodaux, La., breaking a streak of four wins by the Jaguars.  The loss is just the second ever in Mobile by the Jaguars in the series and the first since the 1978-79 meeting, the first in the all-time series.  South Alabama's Rachel Cumbo scored a career-best 12 points in the loss to the Colonels.  The 13 three-pointers by Nicholls State were the most versus the Jags since Middle Tennessee recorded 14 back on Feb. 21, 2010.  KK Babin's seven triples were the most-ever by an opponent in the Mitchell Center, eclipsing the previous mark of six held by three other players, the most recent Western Kentucky's Kenzie Rich on Jan. 6, 2010.

—USA—