PENSACOLA, Fla. – In the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the Jaguars got behind Coastal Carolina early and could not battle back, dropping the contest 79-60.
South Alabama had two players with 20-point games for the first time since Feb. 6, 2021, but four double digit scorers from Coastal Carolina gave the No. 11 seed squad a lead the Jaguars could not cut in to.
Rachel Leggett led the Jaguar squad with 21 points, while
Michiyah Simmons tacked on 20 of her own in the contest. Leggett finished the day shooting 8-for-14 from the field, with five made free throws. Simmons finished with a career-high eight made field goals, shooting 8-for-18 on the day.
Naomi Smitherman led the Jaguar squad on the boards, bringing down a career-high eight rebounds.
Arin Freeman paced the Coastal squad with 26 points, with Makaila Cange adding 19, Alancia Rasmey finishing with 17 and Deaja Richardson adding 12 of her own. Cange also totaled 10 rebounds, totaling her 10
th double-double of the season.
GAME FACTS
- Coastal Carolina opened the game with a 5-0 run, before South found their first points of the game off a Naomi Smitherman layup at the seven minute mark.
- The Chanticleers held a 9-5 lead at the halfway mark of the first quarter.
- At the end of the first quarter, the Chants led 19-13.
- The Chanticleers held an 11 point lead with five to play in the first half, up 31-20.
- South Alabama trailed 32-44 at the half.
- The Chanticleers led by 15 (50-35) with six to play in the first half.
- South Alabama trailed 61-46 at the end of the third.
- Halfway through the fourth quarter, Coastal led 72-55.
- The Jaguars dropped the first round contest 79-60.
NOTES
- Jordan Rosier is the only player to start all 32 games this season.
- The contest was Leggett's 15th game in double figures and the 15th for Simmons as well.
- Naomi Smitherman totaled a career-high seven rebounds in the contest.
- Michiyah Simmons totaled a career-high eight made field goals.
- Leggett led the team in scoring for the sixth time this season.
- South made just two three-pointers in the loss, both from Nadia Howard.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Yolisha Jackson:
Opening statement:
"Kudos to Coastal Carolina. They came in and really attacked our post players and brought in physicality that we were unable to match. I thought they had an excellent game plan. Offensively, we shot 40% tonight and they made two more baskets than us, but defensively, we could not get anything going our way to get stops. They've got a couple of older kids and they came out and really executed."
On Nadia Howard:
"Nadia is one of the few kids who returned to the team who played valuable minutes as a freshman and a sophomore. I think she did a good job defensively guarding the ball and she came out early and hit good shots. Everything that Nadia does doesn't always show up in the stat sheet, she works her butt off every day and it was good to see her have a good game, not quite the numbers we needed but for her to execute what we needed on a possession by possession bases, she did a good job."
On Rachel Leggett this year:
"Rachel did not play last year, she played in maybe 10 games and I don't think she ever hit double figure minutes. When my staff got here in April, we noticed she was extremely athletic, she doesn't have a right hand but she is so good with her left hand. Rachel every single day is doing something for basketball. She has been absolutely phenomenal for us all season. She started out non-conference hot, hit a lull and then she was good. Moving forward, I am really excited about everything she is going to be able to do in the upcoming seasons."
On moving forward:
"All year, we've stressed who we are and what our culture and foundation will be. Many times, when you take over a program, you're able to do a lot of things. This was a solid group and we told them the most important thing we wanted to accomplish was getting our culture in place. If you don't build that, it makes it harder to have sustained success. That has been a big thing for us. We want to win in that first and then any additional wins were good. That was a win for us this year. Another win is that I started four sophomores and a junior, kids who didn't have big minutes last year. So, when you look at other rosters and it's junior or senior heavy, we did it with young kids and put them in positions they have not been in and grow their mental maturity. The group we have coming back, I am excited about it. They are about what South Alabama basketball is going to be about."
Junior guard Nadia Howard
On the physicality in the game:
"It was hard. Every rebound you have someone behind you or pushing you in the back. We had to make sure we boxed out. It was an interesting thing because they were so physical. I don't think have played many physical teams like that, especially in the post, so that was a big shock. All you can do is get stronger and work harder next time."
On moving forward:
"As a player, it's been great to see people working hard. That's why these losses hurt more, because we have worked really hard and everyone has gotten way better. Everyone works really hard on and off the court. I am really excited for what we can do in the future. This was my third year, but it was the first year I felt I got better. This is just the beginning."
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