Box Score (PDF)
BATON ROUGE, La. - The University of South Alabama women's basketball team outscored Southern University 16-9 in the fourth quarter to walk away with a 53-49 non-conference road win at the F.G Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge. With five minutes to go in the fourth quarter Shaforia Kines hit two free throws to give the Jag women their first lead since the 3:38 mark in the first quarter, and they held on to improve to 4-0 for the sixth time in program history.
The junior guard from Birmingham, Ala., made the start after missing Saturday's contest against Central Arkansas with an injury and tallied six of her seven points in the fourth quarter. Emerald Hart, Alexis Sykes, and India Hall came off the bench to score six points apiece with Hall shooting 3-for-3 from the field.
With 51 seconds left to play, Kennedi Centers brought down two offensive rebounds on one possession and layed in a bucket to ice the game and put the Jag women up by four with just mere seconds left on the clock. The junior forward pulled in seven total rebounds, five offensive and tallied eight points.
Southern led at the end of the first three quarters of play but did not extend their lead to more than seven for the entirety of the ballgame. South held the Jaguars scoreless for over three minutes in the fourth quarter while it built its lead.
GAME FACTS
- Savannah Jones led South in scoring with 11 points, shooting 41.7 percent from the field.
- Jag women shot 45.9 percent from the field while holding Southern to just 33.3 percent overall and 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from behind the arc.
- 18 bench points for the Jags tied their effort against Spring Hill for most in a game this season.
- South went on a 6-0 run to take a 48-44 lead with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
- The Jags out-rebounded Southern 45-28 and pulled in 15 offensive rebounds.
- South notched 16 second-chance points and scored 24 in the paint.
- South turned the ball over 24 times compared to Southern's 13.
NOTES
- South has started 4-0 six times in the program's history, and have finished at least four games above .500 in each of those seasons.
- The Jags outscored Southern 16-9 in the fourth, shooting 50 percent from the field in the final quarter of play.
- South improved to 17-4 all-time against Southern, and has won the last three meetings against the Jaguars.
- South and Georgia State are the only two remaining unbeaten teams in the Sun Belt.
- With the win USA head coach Terry Fowler improved his career coaching record to above .500 at 271-270.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
Opening Statement: "On the road coming in to a tough environment we faced a really athletic team that presses and really got after us. Early foul trouble and had to fight through that, different combinations of lineups, but in the fourth quarter our kids showed great resiliency. I couldn't be more proud of our effort, proud of our bench for stepping up when we needed them."
On the bench stepping up: "Emerald Hart came in and had some big plays for us. Alexis Sykes knocks down a three ball that was crucial. India Hall was rebounding the ball and got some easy baskets off put-backs and they weathered the storm for us until we were able to get our starters back in. Anybody on any given night can help this team."
On Kennedi Centers bringing down two offensive rebounds late in the game: "It was huge from the fact she came from the weak side and got them. She kept the free-throw miss alive. That's what she is, tonight she came through for us."
On your message to the team before the fourth quarter: "Hey, if we get back in striking distance, and once we did we got the lead we felt really good about that. We said once we get it tied up let's try to get a 6-0 run going and I think we did, and from that point on we were playing in front. We were able to make plays when we needed to and we did."
Up next: South Alabama will return home to host East Tennessee State on Mon. Nov. 26. Tip off versus the Bucs is set for 7 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
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