Box Score - Texas State 64, South Alabama 60 (.pdf)
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MOBILE, Ala. – Texas State used a 14-0 run midway through the second half to regain the lead for good and defeat the University of South Alabama women's basketball team 64-60 Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center. With the loss, the Jaguars are now eliminated from earning a berth in this year's Sun Belt Conference tournament.
"I'm very disappointed, and our kids are really hurting," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said following the loss. "We basically had four opportunities [starting] with the two games last week and tonight, and I thought we played well enough for 30-33 minutes to win them. Unfortunately it's a 40-minute ball game, if we could get the NCAA to somehow give us a 33-minute game our record would be a lot different."
USA (7-20, 5-12 SBC) will now close out its season when the Jags host Texas-Arlington on Saturday. Tip-off versus the Mavericks is set for 5:05 p.m. at the Mitchell Center. Prior to the game, South Alabama will honor its four seniors – Meghan Dunn, Jennifer Johnson, Olivia Mohler and Ronneka Robertson.
"We told (the team) in the locker room we know that we're not going to the conference tournament, but Saturday night is Senior Night, and that's special night," Fowler said. "We play for our seniors, so let's send them out on a high note. I haven't lost on Senior Night in the last seven years, and the challenge is to play for our seniors; that's our plan."
Johnson finished with 17 points – one shy of tying her career high – to lead South Alabama offensively. The senior forward was 7-of-13 from the field and 3-for-3 at the foul line to go along with seven rebounds. Also finishing in double figures for the Jaguars was junior guard Breanna Hall with 15 points. The 15-point performance was her 11th double-digit outing in her last 13 games.
As a team, South Alabama held a 30-18 advantage in the points in the paint category, but turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 20 points for Texas State. The Bobcat bench also outscored USA 31-4 in the victory.
"I thought we came out focused and did a really good job executing our game plan in the first half against their ball screens, and we got them in foul trouble early," Fowler said. "I felt pretty good there, but I'm sure they were feeling good too because two of their best players were sitting on the bench and we weren't able to extend that lead before halftime. I was hoping we would be up eight or so, but instead we were up four.
"They came out to start the second half and did a pretty good job, and then we had that stretch where they went to their diamond press and we turned it over three, four times in a row; from that point on we were playing catch up. They were able to do some things and we weren't able to capitalize on [some situations]."
Leading the way offensively for Texas State was Aryiel Anderson with 18 points off the bench. Anderson was huge in the second half as she scored 16 of her points during the final period of play, including 11 of the Bobcats' final 16 points. Erin Peoples also ended the night in double figures with 11 points of her own.
South Alabama jumped out to an early 7-2 lead four minutes into the contest, but the Bobcats answered right back with a 9-0 run of its own to grab a four-point advantage. Jacqueline Jeffcoat began the TSU run with a three from the top of the key. Kaylan Martin then completed a three-point play on the Bobcat's next possession when she drove to the basket for a layup and was fouled. Meghan Braeuer then put the visitors up 11-7 as she connected from the outside with 14 minutes, 48 seconds showing on the clock.
A minute later, it was the Jaguars' turn to answer back with a run as they let their defense provide them a spark. Following a pair of free throws from Robertson, USA drew charges on four of its next six defensive possessions and turned them into points. Meghan Dunn capped the 14-2 South Alabama run – which began with 10 unanswered points – when the senior knocked down a 15-foot pull up jumper from the left side.
South Alabama later stretched its lead out to double figures after another Dunn basket and a pair of free throws from Johnson. Johnson registered eight points during the first 20 minutes of action.
Over the final five-plus minutes, the Jaguar offense would go into a bit of a slump as did not record a field goal during that time and committed three of its eight first-half turnovers during that same stretch. Texas State took advantage of the opportunity and rattled off a 10-2 run over a two-and-a-half minute stretch and narrowed the deficit to 27-25 with under a minute to go before the intermission on a second-chance opportunity by Jasmine Baugus.
The Bobcats had a chance to head into the locker room tied up as Peoples stepped to the line for a one-and-one opportunity with 5.2 seconds remaining, but the sophomore missed the front end and Johnson came down with the rebound. She threw it ahead to Hall, who raced down the floor for a contested layup just before the horn sounded, giving USA a 29-25 halftime lead. Hall led all scorers in the first half with nine points.
In the second half, TSU's Ashley Ezeh, who was saddled with foul trouble in the first half, came out and scored six of the Bobcat's first eight points in the frame.
Tied at 31-31 after a Ezeh bucket less than two minutes into the second half, Johnson ignited a 10-2 South Alabama run when Robertson found Johnson open underneath for a basket. Hall and Cumbo then followed with a basket apiece and after another Ezeh bucket, Robertson and Jenkins completed the Jaguar run with a score each. Jenkins drove the left side of the lane with 14 minutes, 38 seconds remaining to put USA up 41-33.
South Alabama later led 44-36 following a three-pointer by Dunn with just over 12 minutes remaining in the contest. Dunn's basket however would be the last field goal for USA over the next six minutes.
Like it did in the first half, Texas State took advantage of USA's offensive drought and stormed its way back. Baugus knocked down a jumper along the left baseline to begin a 14-0 run for the Bobcats. Anderson then scored five-straight points and after hitting one of her two opportunities at the charity stripe, Kaitlin Walla sank a jumper from the right corner to give TSU a 46-40 advantage with eight minutes, 18 seconds showing on the clock. Peoples kept the Bobcat run going with a basket of her own a minute later and Anderson then stole the ball while the Jags were trying to inbound and then scored a layup with seven minutes remaining to give Texas State a 50-44 lead.
With just over six minutes showing, Rachel Cumbo finally ended the scoreless streak for the Jags with a layup of her own, but Anderson scored four more points on Texas State's next two trips down the floor to extend the lead out to 56-48 at the 3:05 mark.
After going down by double figures (60-50) with under a minute remaining, Cumbo connected from the right wing and Johnson completed a three-point play of her own to trim the deficit to five (61-56) with 29.9 seconds left.
USA kept battling and got Ezeh to miss both her free-throw attempts with 20.2 seconds remaining in the contest, but the Jags were unable to come up with the rebound and Peoples converted both her attempts after being fouled. Robertson registered a bucket in the closing seconds to make the final margin 64-60.
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: Texas State improves to 3-0 in the all-time series versus South Alabama and is 2-0 in the series in Mobile with the only other meeting on the Jaguars' home floor coming back during the 1994-95 season. With the four-point loss to the Bobcats, South Alabama is now eliminated from contention for this season's Sun Belt Conference tournament, marking the first time ever USA has not participated in the league tournament since its inception during the 1982-83 season. The 20 losses for the Jaguars mark the first for the program since the 1999-2000 season when that team finished with 21. Jennifer Johnson's 17 points were one shy of tying a season-high for the senior forward. With her 15-point outing, Breanna Hall has now recorded double figures in 11 of her last 13 games.
—USA—
