MONROE, La.- The South Alabama women's basketball team came up short in a hard fought battle at Fant-Ewing Coliseum Thursday night in a 78-70 final. 

The opening quarter proved to be a back-and-forth affair between both sides early on. A Daniela Gonzalez jumper helped put the Jaguars in front 11-6 to gain some momentum. The remainder of the quarter saw no sides getting a massive advantage as the Jaguars would head into the second behind 25-23. 

Neither side let up in the second quarter, with both teams trading the lead and baskets. South Alabama jumped ahead 37-31 at the 3:43 mark thanks to baskets from Amyria Walker and Chrysta Narcisse. The Warhawks responded with ten unanswered points as the Jaguars found themselves trailing 41-37 at the half. 

At the start of the third, the Warhawks attempted to push their lead out, but would be halted by a Chrysta Narcisse triple that evened the score at 44. Both sides continued to battle for the remainder of the quarter as they traded the lead on numerous occasions. South Alabama entered the fourth behind 61-60 as the momentum continued to rise. 

Rachel Leggett and Terren Coffil provided early baskets in the fourth for South that would put them ahead 66-65 at the 6:42 mark. The hosts unfortunately found their rhythm offensively by going on an 8-0 run. South Alabama continued to compete and battle but would come up short in a 78-70 final. 

STATS

The Jaguars had another efficient night from the field, shooting 42.9% overall while also going an impressive 11-13 (84.8%) from the charity stripe. Rachel Leggett led the way with 14 points as Michiyah Simmons chipped in 12 off the bench. In her first career start, Terren Coffil finished with 11 points to compliment the well-rounded offensive attack from the Jaguars tonight. 

QUOTES

Head coach Yolisha Jackson on the result, "This is the second game in a row where we have started to find ourselves offensively and have been able to do some really good things. At halftime we had 13 assists on 15 made baskets, so we are sharing the ball and doing some things really well. Defensively we have to guard the ball better. I was super proud of our three freshmen that we started tonight. They got us off to a really good start and to see their development over this year has been really nice. We have got to stop fouling so much. If you send a team to the line 34 times in their home court it is going to be really tough to win games on the road. We talked about competing and our culture as well as free throws and layups. I think we are definitely trending upwards and if we can keep those things consistent then we can continue to improve throughout the season and make a push in Pensacola". 

UP NEXT

South will continue their road slate as they travel to Arkansas State on Saturday for a rematch of their game that occurred just last week. 

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