Box Score - South Alabama 53, Louisiana-Lafayette 39 (.pdf)

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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team used an 8-0 run over the final three minutes of the first half and an 8-0 run to begin the second half to pull away from Louisiana-Lafayette and pick up a 53-39 victory at the Mitchell Center in its annual “Pink Zone” game.  

USA (14-11, 7-9 SBC) will now break for a week before returning to action when the Lady Jags travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on Middle Tennessee.

“As we all learned in our league this past weekend, every game you win in this league, no matter who the opponent, is important,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said.  “When you look at Lafayette’s record, you see that they’re struggling from a wins and losses standpoint, but they do play hard and they do compete.  They came out of the gates with their guns blazing at the start of this game.  We were able to defend well in the first half and they made some very difficult shots.  The first three they got was on a concept that we worked on.  They got the three off, and that bothered me a lot because we worked on that.  After that, pretty much everything they got, they earned.  

“That being said, we answered well, and I liked the run we finished the first half with to go into the locker room up eight.  In the second half, we came out of the gates really strong.  We were able to get some clean looks and make some plays.  When we got to that 37-21 lead, I think our kids thought it was blowout time.  It wasn’t.  As a coach, you see it happen so frequently, when kids just think it’s in the bag.  And it was far from in the bag.  It doesn’t matter as a coach what you tell them, sometimes.  They got it right back to within six, but fortunately we hit two threes back to back.  We did enough to win the game.  That’s the important thing, and we move on and live to see another day.”

Mary Nixon led all scorers with 12 points in the win.  The senior guard was 5-of-7 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers.  As a team, South Alabama recorded eight treys versus ULL.  

Mansa El also posted a solid outing in the victory as the Houston, Texas, native had 10 points, pulled down eight rebounds and dished out six assists in 30 minutes of action.  The eight rebounds were just one shy of tying her career mark.

Brianna Wright and Veronica Cherizol also grabbed eight rebounds apiece, but the post duo was just as valuable at the defensive end of the floor, helping lead USA to a season-high nine blocks.  Wright and Cherizol each set new career-best in the defensive stat category, swatting away four and three blocks, respectively.  

Ronneka Robertson came off the bench to drop in seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds – her fifth double figure rebounding game this season.

The Lady Jags shot 40 percent for the game and were 9-of-18 in the second half for 50 percent.  

ULL (7-17, 1-14) dropped its 11th-straight game with the loss.  Keke Veal was the lone player in double figures for the Ragin’ Cajuns with 11.  USA did a solid job on Veal in the second half, holding her to just one basket in the final 20 minutes of action.  Sylvana Okde had nine points – all three of her field goals from long range – and Kia Wilridge added eight points.

Led by the play of Veal, the Ragin’ Cajuns held the early advantage jumping out to a five-point lead (8-3) at the 15:42 mark on a trey by the ULL freshman.

After getting off to a slow start – hitting just one of their first nine attempts from the floor – the Lady Jags finally got some offense going and reeled off a 12-3 run over the next three-plus minutes.  Robertson began the run with a pair of free throws and a layup.  El then converted a conventional three-point play and hit a pair of free throws of her own.  With 12 minutes, 26 seconds showing on the clock, El drove lane and found Webb open in the left corner for a trey, putting South Alabama up 15-11.

With USA leading by four (21-17) with under five to play in the half, the Ragin’ Cajuns came right back and tied the contest back up at 21-21 with a pair of buckets on its next two possessions.  Kia Wilridge knocked down a 12-foot baseline jumper from the left side of the floor and Veal then knotted things up as she banked in a jumper at the 3:!7 mark.  Veal led all scorers with nine first-half points and recorded seven of ULL’s first 11 to start the game.

On South Alabama’s ensuing possession, El helped spark a run of eight unanswered points.  The senior point guard first penetrated the ULL defense and found Nixon open on the left wing for a trey.  El then drove towards the basket again on the next possession for a layup after faking a pass to the wing again. Cherizol then capped off the run and put USA up 29-21 after draining a three from the top of the key.  

Leading at the break, South Alabama gained some more breathing room coming out of the locker room as the Lady Jags began the half on an 8-0 run over the first three minutes.  Nixon ignited the scoring spurt with a bucket at the 18:15 mark and on USA’s next possession, she found El open for a trey.  Wright then banked in her first career three-pointer with just under 17 to go to give USA a 16-point advantage, 37-21.

After calling a 30-second time out, Louisiana-Lafayette mounted a come-back attempt of its own over a three minute stretch as the Ragin’ Cajuns held USA without a field goal and outscored the Lady Jags 11-1 to trim the deficit to 38-32.  Wilridge cut the USA lead to six with a pair of free throws with under 13 minutes to play.

However, that was close as the Ragin’ Cajuns would get the rest of the evening as Meghan Dunn and Nixon nailed back-to-back treys to extend the South Alabama back out to double figures.  Nixon also added another basket to give USA a 52-36 advantage with three minutes, eight seconds remaining.

From there, USA never allowed ULL to get the deficit under double digits, as the Lady Jags went on to pick up their 14th victory of the season with the 14-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:  South Alabama improves to 34-10 in the all-time series and has now won each of the last 10 meetings.  USA is also 20-3 versus ULL under head coach Rick Pietri.  The nine blocks by South Alabama versus ULL was a new season best for the club, eclipsing the previous mark of five set versus Tennessee State.  Brianna Wright (4) and Veronica Cherizol (3) each set new career marks in blocks versus the Ragin’ Cajuns.  With her 12 points, Mary Nixon has now recorded double figures in five of her last six games.  The 39 points were the fewest points given up by South Alabama to a Sun Belt opponent since holding Arkansas State to 38 points in last season’s Sun Belt Conference tournament opener (March 3).  It was also the fewest points allowed to a SBC opponent at the Mitchell Center since holding Western Kentucky to 33 in last season’s home-finale (Feb. 18, 2012).  USA has now held nine opponents this season below 50 points – including six league foes.

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