Box Score - South Alabama 75, Troy 71 (.pdf)

TROY, Ala. – The University of South Alabama women's basketball team shot 90 percent in the second half and Marquita Daniels hit all four of her free throws in the final 21 seconds to clinch a Sun Belt road win Tuesday evening as the Jaguars defeated in-state foe Troy, 75-71 at Trojan Arena.

"Tonight's win just gives our team so much confidence," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "We've now won two road games in a row.  Troy sits in third place in our league right now and to come in here and play and fight the way we did, I just couldn't be more proud of our team.  

"Troy is a team that makes people turn the ball over and tonight we also had to fight through foul trouble, but we were able to get the job done.  In the second half, we were 18 for 20, and didn't take one three-point shot.  I thought in the first half that we necessarily didn't take too many, but we rushed them.  We talked about that at halftime.  Our players came in and did exactly what we talked to them about at the half.  We gathered our composure and stuck to the game plan."

The Jaguars (8-10, 4-5 SBC) will now return home to host Appalachian State on Saturday.  Tip off versus the Mountaineers is set for 5 p.m.  Live stats web streaming for the contest versus the Mountaineers can be accessed at www.USAJaguars.com.  Fans can also keep up with in-game updates by following action on the program's twitter account @SouthALWBB.

The win was the second-straight conference road victory for the Jaguars, marking the first time South Alabama has won back-to-back Sun Belt road games since the 2012-13 season when USA won at Western Kentucky and at Troy to close out the regular season.  The victory by the Jaguars also snapped a three-game win streak for the Trojans in the series.

Daniels was one of four players to end the night in double digits for South Alabama as the sophomore recorded 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting.  Daniels was also 8-of-10 at the foul line.  As a team, the Jags knocked down 17 of their 25 attempts at the charity stripe.

Joining Daniels in double figures for USA was Colby Davis (11) and Chyna Ellis and LaNeetra Guillory, who had 10 points apiece.  Davis also had six assists, five rebounds and three steals in 30 minutes of action.  Davis now has 13 assists in her last two outings.  Ellis and Guillory ended the night a combined 9-for-9 from the floor.  The 10 points were a new career-best for Guillory.

"It was really big," Fowler said of Guillory's play.  "It was really nice to see her perform like that.  Hopefully, she can gain some confidence from this performance and carry it forward.  I hope that all of our 'bigs' can use this and play with some more confidence, which will give us some opportunities to rest some people so we can stay fresh."

Led by the play of Ellis and Guillory, South Alabama scored a season-best 42 points in the paint and was plus-10 in that category.  Senior forward Taylor Jenkins just missed double figures, finishing with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.  

Ellis also recorded three blocks in increased her season total to 52.  With the 52 blocks, Ellis moved into a tie with Genevieve Delk (2004-05) for seventh on South Alabama's single-season blocks chart.  The 6-2 center also moved past former Jag Valerie Richardson (50 – 1990-91) during the game.

South Alabama was 28-for-47 for the game for 59.6 percent shooting – a new season-high for the club.  It was the first time since USA's game against Troy (2/6/13) that the Jags have shot 50 percent of better in a game.  

The loss was Troy's third straight and dropped the Trojans to 10-8 on the year and 5-4 in conference play.  ArJae'
 Saunders led the club with 15 points.  Saunders was 4-of-11 from the field and 7-of-8 at the foul line.  

While they both recorded double figures, the Trojans' top two scorers – Ashley Beverly-Kelley and Caitlyn Ramirez – were held below their averages.  Beverly-Kelley entered the game leading the Sun Belt with 19.4 points per game, while Ramirez was 10th in the league in that category with 13.1 ppg.  Beverly-Kelley scored 11 points and Ramirez added 10.  The Jag defense held the duo in check as they each hit just five of their 17 shot attempts and were a combined 1-for-10 from the three-point line.  

The 71 points was a new season-low at home for Troy.  The Trojans entered the game averaging 97.7 points per game on their home floor and had scored over 100 four of their seven regular-season home games this season.

Troy was 21-for-73 from the field for 31.5 percent.  The Trojans entered the game ranked second in the SBC in field-goal percentage, knocking down 43.6 percent. Struggling from the field, Troy was able to hang around with its defensive pressure and free throw shooting.  TU forced South Alabama into 32 turnovers and scored 29 points off those Jag miscues.  Troy also hit 21 of its 26 free-throw attempts.  

After Troy took an early two-point lead, South Alabama answered back with eight unanswered points in less than two minutes.  Following a free throw by the Trojans, the Jaguars rattled off another 8-0 run to take a 13-point lead.  Davis later capped off the run and gave USA a 16-3 advantage when she hit a runner in the lane and then sank a pair of free throws.  The junior guard had seven points for the Jaguars during the 16-1 run over a five-minute stretch.

South Alabama started to get in foul trouble though in the first and began to struggle offensively with Daniels and Ellis on the bench.  Troy took advantage and began to chip away at the Jaguar lead.  Amanda Mendoza drained a three-pointer with 10.2 seconds remaining in the first to cut the Jag lead to 18-11.  The Mendoza bucket was just Troy's third made field goal.

The South Alabama defense was solid for the most part during first quarter as it held the nation's fifth-leading scoring team to 11 points and 21.4 percent (3-of-14).  The Trojans also turned the ball over 10 times during the first 10 minutes of action.

Troy scored the first five points of the second quarter and made it a one-possession game at 18-16 following another Mendoza trey, this one banked in from the right wing at the 7:29 mark.  USA would extend its lead back out to six (24-18) three minutes later on a jumper by Guillory, but quickly got reclaimed the momentum.

Beverly-Kelley scored five-straight points for the Trojans and trimmed the deficit to 24-23 when the senior drained a trey from the left corner with four-and-a-half minutes to go before the intermission.

Troy later took its first lead of the game with less than three to go in the quarter on Ta'Kierra Gibbs' three.  Gibbs' trey was Troy's fourth of the contest and put Troy up 28-26.

South Alabama was able to hold the Trojans there for the remainder of the half and tied the contest back up at 28-28 just before halftime on another bucket by Guillory in the closing seconds.  USA had missed its previous eight shot attempts and turned the ball over three times prior to Guillory's bucket.

The Jaguars were plagued by foul trouble during the first 20 minutes of action as six players had at least two fouls.  Juliann Miller and Daniels had three apiece.  The two teams also combined for 32 turnovers during the first two quarters of play.  

Coming out of the intermission, South Alabama would set the tone for its hot second-half shooting as the Jags hit their first eight shot attempts and built as much as a seven-point advantage over the first five minutes of the third quarter.  

Troy had led 37-36 after a and-one conversion by Claresa Banks at the 7:08 mark of the third, but over the next two minutes, South Alabama would rattle off its third 8-0 run of the game to reclaim the lead. With five minutes, 18 seconds showing on the clock, Miller drove the left side for a layup to extend USA's lead out to 44-37.  

The Trojans answered right back though with a 10-0 run of its own over a two-plus minute stretch.  Ramirez ignited the scoring with a layup with just under five minutes to play in the quarter and later capped off the run with another bucket to give Troy a 47-44 advantage.

On South Alabama's ensuing possession, USA regained the momentum was Erin Autio found Ellis open for a jumper and then a minute later, Davis drove toward the basket for a layup of her own to put the Jags back out on top by one (48-47).

Troy would score four-straight points of its own and retake the lead (51-48) following a pair of free throws by Saunders.  With less than a minute remaining in the quarter, Daniels would sneak behind the Trojan defense a break away for a layup after Davis threw over the top of the defenders.  Daniels' bucket trimmed the deficit to one and gave USA a little momentum heading into the final quarter.

South Alabama was 11-for-13 from the field in the third for 84.6 percent, but committed seven turnovers, leading to 21 points for Troy.

The Jaguars continued their hot shooting and scored the first six points of the final quarter, taking a 56-51 lead two-and-a-half minutes into the period after another a reverse layup by Daniels.  

Troy battled back and closed the Jag advantage to one (59-58) after a jumper in the paint by Saunders with less than five to play, but that was as close as the Trojans would get the rest of the way.

Over the next two minutes, 31 seconds, South Alabama would outscore 9-3 and extend its lead out to 68-61 at the 2:25 mark on a layup by Davis.  

In the final minutes, Troy would make it a one-possession game four different times, but Daniels would hit all four of her free throws during the final 21 seconds to preserve and clinch the four-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).

—USA—