Box Score - Indiana State (.pdf)

TERRA HAUTE , Ind. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team carried a four-point lead over Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite Indiana State into halftime, but Sycamore senior guard Anna Munn poured in 13 points after the break to spark the hosts to a 53-40 regular-season-opening victory at the Hulman Center on Saturday.
 
USA freshman guard Colby Davis led all Jaguars in scoring with eight points, five of them from the charity stripe. Davis also collected three rebounds and two steals in her collegiate debut. Senior guard Meghan Dunn followed with seven points, including a three-pointer that opened all scoring.
 
Senior forward Ronneka Robertson pulled down 12 rebounds for USA before fouling out with two minutes left in regulation. The Jaguars turned the ball over 23 times Saturday night and shot 26.7-percent from the floor, connecting on 12 of their 45 shot attempts.
 
South Alabama (0-1) led, 15-11, at the half, a third of the total coming from Dunn alone. Before the break, ISU converted only 5-of-28 attempts (17.9%) and was 0-for-6 from the free throw line. Memphis transfer Bliqis Abdul-Qaadir and Munn combined for seven of the 11, the latter making only one of her five attempts from range to that point.
 
USA appeared to carry its momentum into the second period after three missed Indiana State jumpers and two Jaguar free throws from junior guard Breanna Hall gave the Jaguars a six-point advantage (17-11) two minutes into the final period, but the visitors' lead began to dwindle when Munn sank the first of her three second-half triples. She scored 13 points during a six minute stretch, as Indiana State outscored South Alabama 23-6 over the next six minutes.  Munn capped off the run and put ISU up 34-25 after sinking a pair of free throws at the 12:07 mark. 
 
Munn - a MVC all-conference selection - finished with a game-high 16 points on 4-for-10 shooting from behind the arc. ISU finished the second half 5-for-10 behind the arc and 14-for-32 (43.8%) from the field.
 
"We expected to get their best coming out for the second half and I thought we lost our composure when they did. We never regrouped from that," said USA head coach Terry Fowler. "They kept the momentum going. I thought we settled down later, but we just couldn't make any shots.
 
"Defensively, at the start of the game, we were playing well," Fowler added.  "We were sticking to our concepts, and we did well to hold them to 11 in the first half. But once they made a couple of baskets, I thought we got out of what we wanted to do."

The Sycamores eventually extended their lead out to as much as 20 (49-29) in the second half, before taking the 13-point victory.
 
South Alabama will next face Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Golden Eagles defeated West Alabama, 101-44, on Friday.
 
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).