MOBILE, Ala. – The South Alabama women's basketball team came up short against Texas State Friday night at the Mitchell Center in their regular season finale, falling 56-63.
 
This drops the Jaguars to 6-23 on the season with a 2-16 record in Sun Belt play.
 
Rachel Leggett and Amyria Walker helped give the Jaguars a 24-18 lead as the pair hit back-to-back buckets to breathe momentum into the Jaguars offense. The Bobcats continued to make a push for the lead as South continued to fight. The Jaguars headed into the half behind 31-28 after the Bobcats made another push at the lead.
South fell behind at the start of the third as the Bobcats made an attempt to extend their lead. Michiyah Simmons helped give South some momentum as she connected for a three to make it a 37-33 affair at the 5:09 mark. South began to struggle from the field as Texas State went on a run. The Jaguars continued to fight and managed to cut the deficit to single digits as they entered the fourth behind 49-41.
 
Texas State continued to extend their lead at the start of the fourth, making it a 57-44 lead at the 6:12 mark. On a layup at the 5:12 mark, Rachel Leggett surpassed a milestone by reaching 750 career points in her Jaguars career as she and the Jaguars continued to battle back. South made a final push at the lead as Nadia Howard converted on a bucket to make it a six point game at 3:42. Unfortunately for South, the second-half surge from Texas State proved to be too much as the Jaguars fell in a 63-56 final.
 
STATS
The Jaguars shot an efficient 44.9% from the field while going 11-13 (84.6%) from the charity stripe. Rachel Leggett led South with 19 points and five rebounds with Daniela Gonzalez chipping in eight points and four rebounds.
 
QUOTES
Head coach Yolisha Jackson on the result, "I was disappointed in our team tonight. I thought we came out flat and just didn't have the juice to get things going. We did a lot of things that we don't necessarily practice. When that shows up on gameday that is really tough. Hats off to Texas State, they played at a slower pace and clogged up the paint".
On honoring the seniors, "I can't say enough about Janelle's resiliency. She is a people first person and she has done so much for this team. Tara continued to fight and push forward though being slowed down from injury and it has been a pleasure to be around her for a year. Nadia is one who is going to give you everything that she has. Her leadership these last five weeks has really been something to see. With Jordan, we miss her everyday on the court with her just being mature and being a leader. A four-year kid who has been in the trenches and has always overcome. I am super proud of those four young women, we do have more basketball to play in Pensacola and I am really excited to see how we finish".  
 
UP NEXT
 
The Jaguars will face the #11 seed in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. on March 4 at 2:00 PM.
 
FOLLOW THE JAGS
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