MOBILE, Ala.- The South Alabama women's basketball team dropped a close contest to Arkansas State in the Mitchell Center Saturday afternoon in a 71-82 final. 

The opening quarter swung in the direction of the Jaguars to begin as Rachel Leggett converted on a layup to put South ahead 6-3. The Red Wolves responded with a 15-4 run to take an 18-10 lead midway through the quarter. The Jaguars battled back as Terren Coffil converted on an and one to make it a 22-17 affair at the end of the first. 

Chrysta Narcisse and Amyria Walker breathed life into the Jaguars as they each hit a pair of threes to push South ahead. Both sides continued to trade baskets for the remainder of the quarter as the Red Wolves narrowly grabbed the advantage with a 42-38 score at the half. 

As the third quarter began, the Red Wolves made a push that would be halted by threes from Amyria Walker and Daniela Gonzalez, making it a one-possession game. Both teams continued to battle hard as the Jaguars helped slow down the Red Wolves' offense by forcing turnovers and playing tremendous on-ball defense. South's offense cooled down towards the end of the quarter as Arkansas State jumped out to a ten-point that was fueled by shots from the charity stripe. The Jaguars entered into the fourth behind 67-57. 

South Alabama continued to fight but struggled to contain the visitors as they pushed their lead to as much as 19. The Jaguars made a late push that would fall just short in a 71-82 final. 

STATS

The Jaguars outshot Arkansas State by shooting 41.2% from the field and an efficient 50% from behind the arc. Three Jaguars had double-digit figures, with Amyria Walker leading the way with 20 points. In just her second career start, Chrysta Narcisse scored a career-high 13 points while also chipping in with four rebounds and three assists. Terren Coffil was a spark plug for the Jaguars, scoring 12 points off the bench. Rachel Leggett stuffed the stat sheet, compiling nine points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal as Daniela Gonzalez followed with seven points and 12 rebounds. 

QUOTES

Amyria Walker on what was going well for South tonight, "When we pushed the ball out in transistion and found our open looks with threes, that is when we succeeded". 

On how good it feels to be back in double-digit scoring, "It feels great. I was just telling myself next play and to keep believing in my teammates and doing everything for them". 

Yolisha Jackson on the progress this team has made, "When we got back from Southern Miss, we were pretty down as an entire program. So, as an entire coaching staff, we said in film that we know we are a better shooting team than what we are doing right now, so we asked ourselves what we can add to help change our percentages. We had the team rate their own shots. We went through and cut our 62 shots from that game and had them rate them by asking them is this a good, makeable shot or is this a bad, non-makeable shot? Their statistics said that 75% of those shots that we took are good shots for our team. We then asked are we doing everything we can do to change these percentages to get them back to where they were earlier on in the year. The answer was really simple in that it was just a matter of time. It's a matter of time before we start to shoot the ball better and play better offensively and get our numbers back up. We trended that way tonight. Unfortunately, we turned the ball over too many times against that constant pressure they provide and we didn't shoot the ball great at the free throw line so that is something that we have to continuously strive and work towards. A lot of times in this point in the season when you haven't won a conference game, the gym might be quiet at practice, kids may choose not to come in on their own and get up extra shots, they may not choose to come in and get that extra film session, and what I can say about this group is that that's not been our team. Our kids understand that it is a journey and they know that we are not playing where we want to be right now and they also understand the process. If we are going to go through this tough stretch, I want to go through with kids that are still believing and doing all the extra work and also being coachable. That is where we are at this point in the season. We have a lot of games left and we know that in one moment it is going to turn around once we get our first win. We all believe that it is going to propel us on". 

UP NEXT

South will return to the road where they will face Louisiana Monroe this upcoming Thursday. 

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