MOBILE, Ala. – As the bus rolled east on Interstate 20 headed for New Orleans, the word was slowly starting to leak through social media as conferences across the country were deciding how to run their postseason basketball tournaments.

Following a 9 a.m. departure from the team's hotel in Arlington, Texas, the announcement had already been made that the Sun Belt Conference Tournament would be closed except to essential personnel and family members of participating student-athletes.  Before a stop could be made for lunch, there was an update, and it wasn't good.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament had been cancelled.

Coming off a 55-47 quarterfinal victory at UTA the previous evening, the University of South Alabama women's basketball team's season — as well as the collegiate careers of seniors Shaforia Kines, Kennedi Centers and Emerald Hart — was over in the blink of an eye.  Having seen the news spreading throughout the ride, no one was necessarily caught off guard.  But it didn't make it any less painful.

"I kind of expected it to happen.  I knew it was coming, but I didn't want to believe it," recalled Kines.  "I couldn't hold my emotions in, I just busted out crying because I knew that was my last game the night before.  Mentally I wasn't prepared for it to be my last game.  We were all hyped up, we knew we were going to New Orleans."

Having been on the phone throughout the early part of the trip, Jaguar head coach Terry Fowler had a good idea how the scenario was going to play out.  And yet it didn't take the sting out of what the news meant to him, his staff, the seniors or the program.

"I saw the things going on with all the other conferences, I had a little more time to process what the reality would probably be with the Sun Belt Tournament," he said.  "Not being able to coach the seniors was a huge disappointment because we were on a mission to win a conference championship.  To go back [on the bus] and see those kids bawling like that, it's a tough thing to take.

"You just give them a hug and tell them 'Hey, it's going to be okay.'"

One reason the Jags exuded such confidence dated back to the 2018-19 season when they won four games in five days to advance to the championship game of the Sun Belt Tournament.  After falling to Little Rock by just a point in the final, the team was hungry to return this year.

South concluded the regular season 15-15 overall and 9-9 in the league after winning at Little Rock in the finale, earning the sixth seed in the tournament.  One week after falling at Arkansas State, the Jaguars rebounded with an 82-71 victory over the Red Wolves to set up the matchup with the third-seeded host Lady Mavericks.

Despite 12 points from Kines, the Jaguars were down 11 to UTA when the guard took an inbound pass, drove up the court and launched a three-pointer from well beyond the arc just before the halftime buzzer.  When it went through the net, USA was still behind 34-26 but the dynamics of the contest had just shifted.

"I think that was huge, it helped us with our momentum coming out of the first half," she said.  "We had been in that situation before, so everyone stayed positive.  We knew we could come back and win it, we knew it wasn't over.  When we had the momentum, I said if we could keep it that we were going to win that game."

The Jaguars scratched and clawed throughout the third period, but it wasn't until Mahogany Vaught drained a three-pointer from the corner with a minute to go that they would regain the lead.  Kines followed with a three 30 seconds later, and she would make 5-of-6 free throws in the final quarter to help South close out the win.  In what turned out to be her final game with the program, she led all players with 28 points while adding five rebounds and three assists.

That wasn't the only impressive performance turned in by Kines during her senior season.  She dropped what was then a career high 29 points, highlighted by six three-pointers, against Alabama the opening month of the season, while in December she posted a game-best 23 points to help the Jaguars rally for a victory at Tulane.  She would go on to score over 20 points in both meetings with eventual Sun Belt regular-season champion Troy, doing the same against runner-up Coastal Carolina including recording a career-high 30 in Conway in February.

Why did she perform at her best in South's biggest games?  

"I love playing big games like those, we are always underdogs in those games," she explained.  "When I step on the court, I know I'm always going to be ready to play, no matter what."

Fowler attributed it to factors not necessarily recognizable to the casual observer's eye.  "It's something you can't measure, it's inside of her — it's her heart," he said.  "She not a big personality, she's quiet, but she's got a competitive engine in her.  She's just steady and goes about her business.  Her work got her to those big moments."

Kines finished the year leading South with a 15.9 points-per-game scoring average — which ranked third in the league — as well as with 94 assists.  The guard was 75-of-207 (36.2 percent) from beyond the arc to rank second in the SBC in both three-point field-goals per game and percentage, was fourth after shooting 81 percent at the foul line, and she also averaged four rebounds per contest to go along with recording 42 steals.  After earning preseason third-team all-conference honors before the year started, Kines was voted first-team all-Sun Belt in March.  But that's not what she'll take as her favorite memory from her final season, it was what came after with the Jaguars opening the postseason with consecutive victories.

"I really don't get into that type of stuff, all I wanted was the championship.  It was just another thing for me, it wasn't a big deal," she observed.  "We were heading to New Orleans; we knew we were going to make it.  Those two games that we played, those are the best moments because we were together.

"We felt like a team again."

Fowler's favorite moment from Kines came when she hit a significant career milestone in the waning moments of a win over Appalachian State at the Mitchell Center to begin conference play.

"If you're talking about one play, it was the basket that she scored her 1,000th point," he said.  "It's a loose ball, a scramble, and with the shot clock running down she picks it up and shoots for three and it goes in."

Back home in Birmingham, Kines has been both resting her body while concentrating on assignments as the university has run classes remotely.  She is in the middle of an internship at Baker High School, and after completing it and earning her degree from South has aspirations of continuing her education in graduate school.

As Kines continues to move forward, one can only look back and wonder what she and the Jaguars could've accomplished if the bus reached its intended destination.

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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