Box Score - Troy 86, South Alabama 76 (.pdf)
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MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team committed 23 turnovers, which led to 29 point by Troy as the Jaguars fell 86-76 to the Trojans Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center. The game versus the Trojans marked the program's fourth annual WBCA Pink Zone contest.
"I thought our young ladies came out and played really hard in the first 20 minutes, and played well," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler. "When you look at the stats, where they get 34 more shot opportunities than we do, it's going to be difficult to win a game when that happens. But I was pleased with the effort, I thought we fought and battled for 40 minutes. We hit stretches where it is one thing when you're not scoring, but we were turning the basketball over, which was leading to scores where we couldn't get our defense back and set; that becomes difficult where you dig yourself a hole."
USA (7-17, 5-9 SBC) will now head back out on the road for a pair of games, beginning with Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. With the loss, South Alabama's road to earning a trip to the Sun Belt Conference tournament becomes a little bit more difficult.
"Two weeks ago I felt that if we could get two more wins we would secure a spot, and we still have an opportunity to do it – It's not going to be easy," Fowler said. "I've told our kids 'We can't watch other people and see what is going on, we have to take care of business ourselves.' An opportunity is going to present itself on Wednesday at Louisiana-Monroe, an opportunity for us to hold serve and get a sweep, so we have to go over there and try to get that one."
The Jaguars placed four in double figures led by Breanna Hall's 17 points. The Mesquite, Texas, native did most of her damage at the foul line as she was 13-of-14 at the stripe. She also pulled down eight rebounds in the loss.
Also recording double figures for USA were Meghan Dunn with 16, Rachel Cumbo with 14 and Ronneka Robertson with 13 points and seven rebounds. Dunn was 5-of-11 from the field and had three three-pointers, while Cumbo was 6-of-11 with two treys of her own. Sophomore guard had posted career highs in both rebounds (11) and assists (6).
As a team, South Alabama held a 52-44 rebound advantage. The 52 rebounds were a new season best for the Jags, while the 40 defensive boards were also a season high.
Troy (10-15, 6-8 SBC) also placed four players in double figures led by the Sun Belt's leading scorer Joanna Harden's 26 points. The 20-plus point game marked the 11th-straight for the senior Trojan guard. Harden also had five assists and six of Troy's 16 steals in the game.
Ronita Garrett recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Garrett was 7-of-15 from the floor in the win. Aissata Maiga also contributed 12 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting, while also carding four assists of her own and three steals. Led by Garrett and Maiga, the Trojans held a 33-13 advantage in the bench points category.
Ashley Beverly-Kelley came up big in the second half as she had nine of her 11 points in the period.
Cumbo led the attack early on for the Jaguars as she recorded six of USA's first eight points. Dunn drained a trey from the left side of the arc with just under 14 minutes remaining in the first half to give the Jaguars an 11-5 advantage.
Harden – the Sun Belt's leading scorer – also got off to a hot start for her club, recording nine of Troy's first 13 points and trimmed the deficit to 16-13 with a jumper at the 11:08 mark.
Troy kept chipping away at the deficit and pulled to within one (24-23) with a little over six minutes remaining in the first half after a pair of free throws from Beverly-Kelley and a free throw from Harden.
Johnson though provided a spark for the Jags as she recorded South Alabama's next six points and stretched the lead out to 30-25 after back-to-back buckets, the second coming when Sharon Sanders found the senior forward open or a layup in transition at the 5:16 mark.
Three minutes later the Jaguars grabbed their largest advantage of the opening period of play after a pair of free throws from Hall. Hall had eight first-half points, all of which coming at the charity stripe as she was a perfect 8-for-8.
Troy answered back quickly and tied the game back up with a 7-0 run, evening the game at 37-37 on two-straight buckets from Garrett. The Trojans tied the contest back up when Harden found Garrett open down the floor after a Jaguar turnover with a minute-and-a-half to go before the intermission.
Hall then hit four-straight free throws in the final minute to extend the South Alabama lead back out to four, before another bucket by Garrett send the two clubs into the locker room with USA holding a 41-39 lead.
The 41 points by the Jaguars were a new season-high, eclipsing the previous mark of 40 set against Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 18. USA shot 46.7 percent in the first half and was10-of-14 from the foul line.
Throughout the first part of the second half, the two clubs exchanged points back-and-fourth. With USA leading 52-49 after a layup from Dunn with 14 minutes remaining of the game, the Trojans began to take control as they rattled off a 9-0 run over a minute-and-a-half stretch. Beverly-Kelley capped off the scoring and put Troy up 58-52 with a trey from the top of the key with 12 minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Jaguars kept battling and narrowed the deficit to 67-63 with less than eight to go after a bucket from Robertson and a free throw from Dunn.
The Trojans didn't allow USA to get any closer though as the visitors quickly pushed their lead out to double figures with another run. Troy began the key 12-4 run with six-straight points over the next minute. Dominique Ross ignited the scoring with a jumper at the 7:48 mark. Harden then stole the ball and went in for a layup two possessions later. Harden was fouled on the play and missed the free-throw, but Garrett grabbed the offensive board – one of Troy's 17 in the game – and laid the ball back off the glass to put the Trojans up 73-63.
Troy led by 12 (82-70) with just over three minutes showing on the clock and the Jaguars attempted to make one last charge as Robertson hit a pair of buckets and Hall hit a pair of shots at the line with one minute, 36 seconds remaining to bring the Jags within six at 82-76, but those would be South Alabama's final points as the Trojans went on to take the 10-point win.
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 meeting between South Alabama and Troy was the 40th in the all-time series. The series is now tied 20-20 between the two programs as Troy has taken the last three meetings in the series. With her team-high 17 points, Breanna Hall has now recorded double figures in eight of her last 11 games. The 13 free-throws by Hall were a career-best for the junior guard. Meghan Dunn has now recorded double figures in 18 of South Alabama's 24 games this season, including nine-straight. The 11 rebounds and six assists were both new career best for USA's Sharon Sanders. Freshman Jag guard Colby Davis did not play versus Troy as she was unable to go after reinjuring her knee versus Texas State on Wednesday. Her status is undetermined. The 23 turnovers by South Alabama versus Troy marked the 10th time this season that the Jags have committed 20 or more turnovers in a game this season. The 86 points by Troy were the most points allowed to an opponent this season since surrendering 92 at Wake Forest on Dec. 20. The 47 second-half points by the Trojans also tied a season high by a Jag opponent in the period. USA also allowed 47 second-half points to Wake Forest. The 41 first-half points by South Alabama were a new season-best, eclipsing the previous mark of 40 set against Louisiana-Monroe (Jan. 18). SAturday's game versus Troy was also the program's fourth annual WBCA "Pink Zone" game. USA is now 3-1 in those games and 1-1 versus the Trojans.
—USA—
