Box Score - South Alabama 61, Arkansas-Little Rock 56 (.pdf)

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MOBILE, Ala. – Meghan Dunn scored eight of South Alabama's final 12 points to help lead the Jaguars to a 61-56 Sun Belt Conference victory over Arkansas-Little Rock Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center.  

"In the last couple of minutes of the game, I was just determined," Dunn said.  "I was not going to be denied, I just started penetrating and turning the corner and finishing at the basket.  "

Dunn finished the game with 17 points – her eighth double-figure scoring outing of the season – and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line in the win.  The senior guard also finished 5-of-12 from the floor and had four assists.

"I thought after coming back from our trip to Georgia State, we had one of our best practices of the year and it paid off today," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "We got off to a great start in the first half, but they have kids who can score the basketball and got it back to a two-point game at halftime.  We talked about coming out and to get a stop to start the half and go down and score.

"I really thought our young ladies did a great job of executing on the offensive end.  They tried to take away the three-pointer – we only had 10 attempts tonight – so Breanna Hall and Meghan Dunn get a lot of credit for being able to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket, because they weren't going to come off of our other shooters.  When we drove, we were either going to get to the basket and if they helped kick out for an open shot; but they didn't, so to our credit we were able to finish at the basket or draw a foul.

Breanna Hall continued her solid play of late as she led USA with 19 points – just two points shy of tying her career high.  She has now recorded double figures in four of her last four outings.  Like Dunn, Hall was outstanding at the free throw line, hitting 10 of her 11 attempts.  As a team, South Alabama was 22-for-26 at the charity stripe.

"We only had six free-throw attempts at their place, and for us to be successful we needed to make seven threes and get to the free-throw line at least 20 times and shoot 75 percent from the line," Fowler said.  "Tonight, we get there 26 times and make 84.6 percent.  I thought that was the big difference for us.  We were able to be in attack mode"

The win snapped a seven game skid versus the Trojans and was the programs first victory in the series since Dec. 16, 2009.

USA (7-12, 5-4 SBC) will next travel to take on in-state Sun Belt rival Troy on Thursday evening.  Tip-off versus the Trojans is set for 5:15 p.m. at Trojan Arena.

Taylor Gault led all scorers as she recorded a game-high 26 points in the loss for Arkansas-Little Rock (10-10, 5-5 SBC).  Gault was 10-for-21 from the floor and hit three treys and three free throws.  Shanity James and Kiera Clark were the next highest scorers for UALR, finishing with eight points apiece.

With the loss, the Trojans are now just 2-9 away from the Jack Stephens Center this season.  

South Alabama shot 47.2 percent from the floor and hit five of its 10 three-point attempts.  UALR also shot 47.1 percent from the floor, but held the edge in the rebounding column with a 30-18 advantage.  The Trojans also grabbed 16 offensive boards and turned them into 16 second-chance points.  The 18 rebounds were a season-low for the Jags.  

South Alabama held and early three-point lead four-and-a-half minutes into the contest, but after a put back from Hannah Fohne and a Gault trey from the right wing at the 14:22 mark, UALR took its first lead of the afternoon.  

Tied at 13-13 with less than 11 minutes remaining before the half, USA's offense came alive as the Jaguars rattled off a 10-1 run over the next four-plus minutes.  After a pair of free throws from Hall began the scoring, Sharon Sanders drained a three from the right corner with just over 10 minutes showing on the clock.  Hall then connected from the top of the key and Ronneka Robertson hit one of her two opportunities at the foul line to give the Jaguars a 23-14 advantage at the 6:40 mark.  

Led by James and Gault, the Trojans answered right back and knotted the contest back up at 27-27 as the duo combined to record 11 of Arkansas-Little Rock's 13 points during a 13-4 run.  James scored six of the first eight points during the scoring spurt and Gault then knocked down a 15-foot pull up jumper and connected with her second three-pointers to tie the game back up with just under two minutes remaining before the intermission.

With under a minute to play, Jennifer Johnson was able to get to the foul line and hit both her attempts to send USA into the locker room with a 29-27 advantage.

Hall led all scorers with 12 first-half points as she was 3-of-4 from the field and 5-for-5 at the foul line, while Gault paced UALR with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 2-for-2 at the three-point line.  

Both clubs shot the ball well during the first 20 minutes of action, but the Trojans held a distinct advantage on the glass, out rebounding the Jags 17-8, including 9-3 on the offensive glass.  

UALR opened up the second half with a 6-0 run over the first two-and-a-half minutes  to take a 33-29 lead, but the Jaguars came right back and retook the lead with a 9-2 run of their own.  Rachel Cumbo and Dunn drained back-to-back treys to ignite the scoring for USA.  Hall later capped off the run when the junior guard drove the left side of the baseline for a layup to give South Alabama a 38-35 lead with just under 15 minutes remaining in the game.  

Two minutes later, Gault knocked down two-straight buckets to put the Trojans back out on top, but on the Jags' next possession, Robertson came up with a loose ball under the basket and found Sanders in the lane for a jumper to give USA the lead.  

UALR once again retook the lead (43-42) with just over 10 minutes showing on the clock after another basket from Gault, but Hall went to the line each of South Alabama's next three possession and hit five of her six opportunities to give the Jaguars a 47-43 lead with seven minutes, 45 second to go.

The Trojans kept battling and once again knotted the contest up at 49-49 on a baseline jumper by Clark at the 5:17 mark.

However Dunn would begin to take over for the Jags a minute later.  The 5-9 guard began the scoring with back-to-back layups and put USA up 55-51 with two minutes, 31 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws.  

After a Gault jumper just outside the free-throw line on the Trojans next possession cut the Jag lead to two, Brittany Webb fed the ball into the post to Jennifer Johnson who knocked down a turnaround jumper with 24.5 seconds to go.  At the other end of the floor, Dunn came up with a steal and then hit both of her opportunities at the charity stripe after being fouled with 10.5 seconds remaining to give USA a six-point advantage (59-53).

Gault drained a trey on UALR's ensuing possession with 2.3 seconds left, but Webb sealed the win as the sophomore sank both her free throws with 0.9 remaining to give South Alabama the five-point victory.

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:  With the win, South Alabama snaps a seven-game skid to Arkansas-Little Rock and improves to 12-10 in the series.  The win was the programs first victory in the series since Dec. 16, 2009.  One key stat in the win was at the foul line where USA was 22-of-26.  In the earlier meeting this season in Little Rock, a 61-42 loss, the Jags were able to get to the foul line just six times.  In that meeting, UALR was able to get to the line 19 times, but on Saturday made just six trips.  The 17-point game versus UALR was the eighth double-figure scoring outing for Meghan Dunn this season.  Breanna Hall finished just two points shy of tying her career high as she ended the night with 19 points.  The Mesquite, Texas, native has now recorded double figures in four of her last five outings.  Hall (10-of-11) and Dunn (6-of-6) combined to go 16-for-17 at the foul line in the win.  Freshman guard Colby Davis missed her third-straight game due to injury versus the Trojans.  The 18 rebounds versus UALR were a season-low for the Jaguars.

—USA—