MOBILE, Ala.- Despite a career-high 27 points from Rachel Leggett, South Alabama fell to Troy Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Center in an 86-71 final. 

The loss drops South Alabama to 6-21 on the season and 2-14 in conference play. 

South's offense took charge in the opening minutes with Rachel Leggett and Terren Coffil accounting for 12 of the Jaguars' first 15 points to take a 15-6 lead. The Trojans responded by going on a run of their own and regaining the lead. South Alabama continued to battle as they entered the second behind 23-19. 

The Jaguars cooled down at the start of the second as the Trojans took advantage by extending their lead to nine. South managed to fight back as Terren Coffil converted an and-one layup to give the Jaguars their momentum back. Both sides continued to battle as no team managed to pull away. South Alabama found themselves down 46-41 at the half. 

Despite getting to within three, the Jaguars' defense struggled to contain the offensive outburst from the Trojans due to their strong defensive presence that forced turnovers. South Alabama put a dent in the lead as they headed into the final quarter trailing 70-59. 

The fourth quarter proved to be a nail-biter as the Jaguars crawled their way back into the contest. Michiyah Simmons connected for a three at the 8:40 mark to make it a 70-64 game and give South a huge boost. The Trojans unfortunately remained hot offensively and continued to play strong defense for the remainder of the game. South continued to fight and show remarkable effort, but would fall in an 86-71 final. 

STATS

The Jaguars shot 37.5% from the field and attempted a season-high in free throws, going 25-39 (64.1%) from the charity stripe. Rachel Leggett poured in a career-high 27 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds and recording three steals. Freshman Terren Coffil scored 17 points with three steals with Michiyah Simmons chipping in 10 points. The Jaguars for the second straight game in a row out rebounded their opponent 37-35. 

QUOTES

Head coach Yolisha Jackson on the effort from her group, "This program is going to be built on toughness and competing every single day. We talk about that every single day and make sure to bring that whether we are practicing or in a game. I am super proud of this group on how well they competed and followed the game plan. Over the last four weeks we keep talking about how we want to be the hottest team going into Pensacola and we want to continue to trend up. 

On Rachel Leggett's play, "She embodies the program. She is a wonderful and awesome young lady off the court. She comes to practice every day with the same intention and the same focus that she is going to get better and that she is going to go at 110%. Her growth here these past two years has been unbelievable and we want to have more kids like her. 

UP NEXT

South will hit the road one last time as they travel to Lafayette to take on Louisiana this Wednesday at 5:00 PM. 

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