Box score - South Alabama 68, UL Lafayette 59 (.pdf)Post Game QuotesPhoto GalleryMOBILE, Ala. – Marquita Daniels recorded a season-high 26 points, leading the University of South Alabama women's basketball team to its 10th Sun Belt Conference victory of the season, as the Jaguars held off a late charge by UL Lafayette Saturday afternoon to pick up a 68-59 win at the Mitchell Center on Senior Day.
"It was just a great team win," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said. "We take great pride in trying to win on Senior Night and send them out on top, so it was great that our kids fought and battled. We knew that Louisiana-Lafayette was not going to fold their tent and quit, they battled and our kids fought back and were able to withstand the run they had at the end of the game. It came down to making free throws, and we were able to do that."
Prior to tip off, USA recognized its three seniors – Jennifer Towne, Juliann Miller and Taylor Jenkins.
The Jaguars (14-13, 10-8 SBC) will now head out on the road for a pair of games, beginning with UT Arlington on Thursday night. Tip off versus the Mavs is set for 5 p.m. at the College Park Center. Live stats and web streaming for the contest versus the Mavericks 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 10 conference wins mark the first 10-conference win season for the Jaguars since the 2012-13 season.
Daniels finished the game 8-of-12 from the field and knocked down eight of her 10 attempts at the free-throw line in 35 minutes of action. The sophomore guard also chipped in with six rebounds, three assists and five of South Alabama's six steals in the contest.
Joining Daniels in double figures were Jenkins – who tied a career high with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting – and Colby Davis – who had 11 points. Davis was a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line. As a team, South Alabama shot 72.7 percent from the foul line, connecting on 16 of their 22 attempts at the stripe.
Chyna Ellis just missed a double-double as she had nine points and a season-best 14 boards, 13 coming on the defensive glass. Ellis also added three blocks to increase her season total to 74. With the three blocks, Ellis has now recorded multiple blocks in 22 of her 27 games this season and in her 18 conference games, the 6-2 center is averaging 3.11 per outing.
USA finished with seven blocks in the contest, giving South Alabama 162 for the year, setting a new program record for blocks in a season. The Jags entered the game tied with the '08-09 (155) club in that category.
UL Lafayette fell to 18-9 overall and 11-7 in Sun Belt play with the loss. Keke Veal, coming off a 34-point outing on Thursday night against Troy, dropped in 26 points on 9-of-24 shooting and a 6-for-6 performance at the free-throw line. Simone Fields posted a double-double – her third of the season – with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Kia Wilridge was plagued by foul trouble early on, but managed to finish with nine points.
South Alabama shot 46.9 percent from the field (23-of-49) and hit six of its 11 three-point attempts. ULL was held to just 31.9 percent shooting on the afternoon and didn't record a three-pointer until three minutes into the fourth quarter.
USA also held a 15-5 advantage in assists. The Ragin' Cajuns entered the game averaging 10.6 per game.
UL Lafayette was able to pull down 17 offensive boards, but the Cajuns were only able to turn those into 12 total points. In the first meeting between the two clubs this season, ULL recorded 44 points in the paint – 63.8 percent of its offensive output. In Saturday's matchup, USA cut that holding the Cajuns to just 22 points – 37.9 of their offensive output in the loss.
ULL held a three-point advantage in the opening minutes of the contest, but over next three minutes the Jaguars would battle back and take a seven-point lead. Two seniors would bookend a 12-2 South Alabama run during that time. Miller knocked down a runner in the lane with just over seven minutes to go ignite the scoring. With just over four minutes showing on the clock, Jenkins hit a runner along the left baseline to cap off the run and put USA up 14-7.
Miller and Jenkins got off to a quick start in the first, recording half of South Alabama's points during the period.
Veal ended the Jag run and gave ULL its first points in nearly four minutes as the senior guard drained a jumper just inside the arc as the shot clock expired at the 3:34 mark of the first quarter.
South Alabama would do most of its scoring during the first 10 minutes of action in the paint, recording 10 of its 16 points there.
Brooklyn Arceneaux scored four points – a jumper and a pair of free throws – for the Ragin' Cajuns in during the first two minutes of the second quarter to tie the contest back up at 16-16.
Over the next four-plus minutes of the quarter, the two clubs would exchange the lead seven times. With less than four remaining before the half, Daniels ignited another run for the Jags to send the host into the locker room with the lead. Daniels hit a pair of free throws to begin the scoring for USA and the sophomore later found Davis open on the left wing for a wide-open three. With under a minute to go before the intermission, Miller found Ellis in the paint for a layup to extend South Alabama's lead to 33-27. Miller had four assists during the first two quarters.
Daniels led all scorers during the first 20 minutes of action as she dropped in 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a pair of treys, and hit all four of her free throw attempts. Fields had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Ragin' Cajuns.
As a team, South Alabama knocked down 52.2 percent of its shot attempts, connecting on 12-of-23 from the floor, while holding ULL to 34.4 percent shooting (11-of-32).
South Alabama pushed the lead out to double figures three minutes into the third when Miller drove the right baseline and dished the ball off to Ellis underneath the basket for a bucket to put USA up 39-29.
After the Ragin' Cajuns cut the deficit to seven, the Jaguars later used an 8-2 spurt to extend the lead back out to 48-35. The run was highlighted by a pair of treys by two post players – Ellis and Jenkins. Daniels knocked down a pair of free throws at the 4:44 mark to give USA the 13-point advantage.
"We were able to get the ball inside, we went with some high-low action and some post ups; we told them we had to get the ball into the paint," Fowler said of how the Jags were able to extend the lead out to double figures in the third. "We keep a stat called 'paint touches' and in the first quarter we were at 75 percent and playing fairly well, in the second quarter it was below 50 percent. The emphasis was to get the ball inside into the paint, and that let us get easy baskets and were also able to get them in foul trouble."
ULL would answered back with four quick points over the next minute to bring the deficit back to single digits, but the Jags regained control, rattling off another 8-2 scoring spurt. Davis began the scoring with a jumper and Genesis Perrymond then drained a three-pointer from the right corner to extend the lead back out to 53-39 with just over two to go. After a pair of free throws by the Cajuns, Jenkins knocked down a jumper and then Perrymond hit one of two at the line to cap off the scoring and give USA its largest lead of the afternoon at 56-41 with a minute-and-a-half remaining in the third.
In the fourth quarter, UL Lafayette would charge back and get as close as eight three-and-a-half minutes into the final period of play. Veal scored the first five points and Wilridge then stole the ball and went the length of the court for a layup to cut South Alabama's advantage to eight (58-50) at the 6:39 mark.
On ULL's next possession, Daniels came up big defensively, recording her fourth steal of the afternoon. The 5-7 Jaguar guard then raced down the floor for a layup of her own to put USA back up by double figures.
The Ragin' Cajuns would continue to chip away at the South Alabama lead, pulling within four (63-59) with just over a minute to go after Veal's second trey of the afternoon, but that would be as close as the Jags would let them get the rest of the way, as USA scored the final five points of the contest, picking up the nine-point win. Daniels went 3-of-4 at the charity stripe down the stretch and Ellis had a layup of her own to seal the 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).
—USA—
