Box Score - Troy 86, South Alabama 79 (.pdf)Post Game QuotesPhoto GalleryMOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team pulled to within four with less than two minutes to go, but Troy made the necessary plays down the stretch to hold off the Jaguars, 86-79 at the Mitchell Center on Senior Day.
The Jaguars end the 2014-15 season with a 5-24 overall mark and a 2-18 record in league play. Prior to the game, senior guard Breanna Hall, red-shirt junior Rachel Cumbo and senior student manager Amanda Patton were recognize as they played their final game in the Mitchell Center.
"Rachel Cumbo started out really well, and she made a couple of big plays down the stretch," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "I can't say enough about Breanna Hall and what she has done for our program, just the hard work on and off the floor; every success that she has, she deserves. One thing we told our kids [coming into the game] is that you always lay it on the line for seniors — Senior Night is important to us. One day they will be seniors and we want someone to lay it on the line for you."
Playing in her final game in a Jag uniform, Hall recorded 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists for South Alabama. Hall also ends her career ranked in several single-season and career program lists. Her 64 three-pointers this season are tied with Sarda Peterson (2012) for fourth-most in a season. Her .408 three-point percentage this season is also tied for seventh with Kim Pompey and her .820 free-throw percentage is second highest. Hall is the only Jaguar player to shot over 80 percent for her career at the foul line, ending at .809.
Marquita Daniels led all scorers with 33 points – 20 coming in the second half. She was 13 of 19 from the field, including four three-pointers. She also ended the night with six rebounds, five assists and four steals. The 30-point effort was her third of the season. Daniels ends the year ranked second in steals (54), 10th in points (290), seventh in free-throws made (64) and fourth in three-pointers made (32) by a Jaguar freshman.
Fellow freshman Chyna Ellis posted her seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Ellis also added three blocks to increase her freshman record to 56.
Troy (20-9, 15-5 SBC) placed five players in double figures – the first time USA has allowed an opponent to do so since Ole Miss (12/14/14) earlier this season.
Leading the way for the Trojans was Ashley Beverly-Kelley with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Beverly-Kelley also chipped in with seven rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes of play. She has now scored 20 points in eight of her last 11 outings.
Kourtney Coleman (18), Maiga Assata (17) Ronita Garrett (13) and Caitly Ramirez (10) also ended the contest in double figures. Garrett – who entered the game leading the Sun Belt on the glass and averaging 11.1 rpg – pulled down 16 boards in the win. The double-double was her 21st this season and her sixth-straight. She leads the SBC in that category and ranked eight nationally coming into the game.
Both clubs got off to a quick start, recording a combined 31 points before the first media time out.
South Alabama knocked down eight of its first 10 shot attempts, including its first four from beyond the three-point line. Hall and Cumbo combined for 13 of the Jaguars' first 20 points. Cumbo put USA up 20-13 with a layup with 15 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the first half on an assist by Daniels. Daniels and Cumbo each had five assists during the opening period of play.
The Trojans came right back and outscored South Alabama 10-4 over the next three-plus minutes. Beverly-Kelley cut USA's lead to 24-23 with a three of her own from the left wing with just over 12 minutes to go. After a bucket by Juliann Miller, Troy took its first lead of the contest with less than nine to play in the half on a jumper from the right side by Lacey Buchannon.
With the game tied at 32-32 after a three by Rachel Reid from the top of the key at the 6:33 mark, Daniels would take over offensively for the Jags, scoring the club's next eight points. Daniels drained back-to-back treys and then grabbed a defensive rebound and raced the length of the court for a layup with one minute, 26 seconds showing on the clock to increase the South Alabama advantage to 40-36.
With under a minute remaining, Coleman – who had 15 first-half points – knocked down a pair of free throws and Beverly-Kelley hit a jumper with 20 seconds showing to cut the deficit to two (42-40), but the Jaguars raced back down the floor and Daniels found LaNeetra Guillory open for a layup to give USA a 44-40 halftime lead.
The 44 points scored in the first half were a new high for the opening period of play for the Jags. Both clubs shot the ball well with USA connecting on 29 of its 41 shot attempts for 46.3 percent and Troy knocking down 16 of its 39 attempts for 41.0 percent.
"We came out shooting lights out, we did an outstanding job of executing what we had worked on in practice," Fowler said. "I was concerned at halftime because I thought that score was too high — that's the type of game that they want to play — but at the same time we were getting baskets, we had to take those. We needed to capitalize on the stops that we got.
Forced turnovers would prove to be the difference for the Trojans in the second half. After committing just eight during the first 20 minutes of action, South Alabama committed 20 in the second half, 11 coming off of Trojan steals.
The Trojan defense was strong early in the final period and the visitors scored on their first three possessions of the second stanza to retake the lead, 46-44 on a bucket by Garrett less than two minutes into the period.
Still trailing by two (50-48) a little over two minutes later, Daniels put the Jag offense on her back as she scored the club's next nine points. Colby Davis hit a pair of free throws at the 12:53 mark to give USA a 59-54 advantage.
The lead would not last though for the Jags as Troy came out of a time out and rattled off eight unanswered over the next minute, 48 seconds. Maiga scored the first six of the run and Garrett gave Troy a 62-59 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining on an offensive put back, one of her six offensive rebounds in the game.
"We had a lead in the second half, but they turned the pressure up and we couldn't sustain it as we turned the ball over 20 times," Fowler stated. "The stretch where Bre[anna] Hall went out of the game it seemed everyone's spirits went down, but when she came back in it was uplifting for our kids. Our kids did not quit, they kept fighting; I was proud of that. But at the end of the day it was turnovers and the points off those that hurt us."
Hall would leave the game with under 12 to go with a knee injury, but did return later in the contest three-and-a-half minutes later.
Following a bucket by Ellis, the Trojans reeled off six more points and stretched their lead out to 68-61 on a layup by Maiga with eight minutes, 25 seconds showing on the clock. Maiga had 10 points for the Trojans during the 14-2 spurt. USA would also commit eight turnovers during the four-minute stretch.
South Alabama would continue to fight back though and got as close as four (79-75) with one minute, 24 seconds to go in the game on a steal and layup by Daniels, but USA would get no closer.
Over the next several seconds, Troy would get to the foul line eight times, hitting four of those attempts. The Trojans missed the second attempt on three-consecutive times, but managed to come up with the offensive rebound to retain possession and get to the charity stripe again.
South Alabama made one last charge, narrowing the deficit to 83-79 after a bucket by Cumbo and a pair of free throws from Hall with 25.4 to go, but Beverly-Kelley's free throws on the next possession all but sealed the seven-point win for Troy.
NOTES: The meeting between South Alabama and Troy marked the 41st in the all-time series between the two programs. Troy holds a 22-19 advantage in the series. The Trojans have won the last five meetings in the series. Prior to the game, senior guard Breanna Hall, red-shirt junior Rachel Cumbo and senior student manager Amanda Patton were recognize as they played their final game in the Mitchell Center. Hall recorded 14 points versus the Trojans, her 24th double-figure outing this season and the 35th in her last 40 games. Hall also ends her career ranked in several single-season and career program lists. Her 64 three-pointers this season are tied with Sarda Peterson (2012) for fourth-most in a season. Her .408 three-point percentage this season is also tied for seventh with Kim Pompey and her .820 free-throw percentage is second highest. Hall is the only Jaguar player to shot over 80 percent for her career at the foul line, ending at .809. Marquita Daniels led all scorers with 33 points – 20 coming in the second half. The 30-point effort was her third of the season. Daniels ends the year ranked second in steals (54), 10th in points (290), seventh in free-throws made (64) and fourth in three-pointers made (32) by a Jaguar freshman. Fellow freshman Chyna Ellis posted her seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Ellis also added three blocks to increase her freshman record to 56.
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).
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