Lady Jags Win On Last Second Free-Throws By Jessica Starling
Game winning free throws with a mere 3.6 seconds left in the game seals the win for the Lady Jaguars over Arkansas State. The Jags record improves to 13-5 and 4-3 in the SBC while Arkansas State falls to 9-9 and 3-4 in the SBC.
USA had a hot start to open the half. Hitting six of their first ten shots from the floor while Nettles and Starling led the way combining to score 12 of the first 17 points for USA putting them out in front 17-12 with 13:37 left in the first half.
But Arkansas State would take the lead a few minutes later and it would be traded back an forth a few times until ASU would make their last basket of the first half at the 5:54 mark. USA would take advantage and close out the half on a 13-1 run to end the half with the Jaguars leading 36-26.
USA would continue the momentum from the end of the first half through the first four minutes of the second half by outscoring ASU 11-5 over that stretch. With 12:05 left in the second half the Jaguar lead would swell to 55-37 but ASU would not give up.
ASU’s Smith, Jefferson and Taylor would combine to score 24 of the their teams 30 points over the final 12 minutes of the game. With USA holding a 10 point lead with less than 3 minutes left in the game, ASU would score 11 unanswered points in a minute and a half putting ASU ahead 66-65.
ASU’s Jefferson was fouled with 25 seconds left and sunk both free throws to give them a one point advantage. USA’s ensuing possession saw a jump ball call when the ball was tied up. The Lady Jags had the possession arrow and thus retained the ball. On the inbounds play, Starling was held which sent her to the line with a one-and-one opportunity with 3.6 seconds left. She sunk both attempts. Arkansas State inbounded the ball and their half court shot would not fall giving the Jaguars the win.
Shakira Nettles would lead all scorers with 27 on 11-17 shooting and 4-6 from outside the arc and sinking one of two free-throw attempts. Ra’Shawna Sippio would chip in 11 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Jessica Starling would score 13 on 3-8 shooting and 1-4 from 3-point range and hitting all six free-throw shots, including the final two to win the game for the Jaguars. Sarda Peterson would play five minutes, seeing her first action since her ankle injury against MTSU.
Ebonie Jefferson would lead Arkansas State with 21 points on 7-10 shooting and 7-9 from the free throw line. Veronica Smith would add 14 and Jazmine Taylor would score 12 for the Red Wolves.
The Jaguars will be in action again when they host the Western Division leader UALR on Wednesday, January 21st with tip-off scheduled for 7:05pm.
Jaguars Woes At Home Continue With Loss To Troy
Troy connected on 16 of 30 shots from 3-point range in the Jaguar loss. Kenny Ware lead the way for Troy hitting 6-8 of the 3-pointers and finishing with a career-best 20 points. He was one of five Troy players in double figures. This loss dropped the Jags to 0-3 at home against Sun Belt Conference opponents, which is a stark contrast to last year when USA was 9-0 at home against SBC opponents during the regular season.
Troy opened the game with a 15-6 run in the first three-plus minutes. The Jags then went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to a single point at 17-16 with about 12 minutes left in the first half.
However, Troy would then go on a 20-2 run over the next 5:20 to break the game wide open for the Trojans. Three players combined to make give 3-pointers during the stretch, three of them by Ware. That would make the lead 37-18 when the run was over. But the Jaguars would regroup and held the Trojans without a basket for the last 3:07 of the half while scoring seven points to close the Trojans lead to 47-29 at halftime.
The lead would fluctuate from 16-21 points during the first six minutes of the second half. The Jags would get close to within 18 with 11-38 left but Troy would score the next 11 consecutive points in a 1:42 span to put the game away for the Trojans.
Bryan Sherrer would lead the Jaguars with 14 points on 4-8 shooting and connecting on his only attempt from 3-point range and hitting all five attempts from the free-throw line. Other Jags in double figures scoring were Domonic Tilford with 11 and Ronald Douglas with 10.
Five Trojans scored in double figures. Kenny Ware scored 20 points on 6-10 shooting going 6-8 from outside the arc and hitting both free-throw attempts. He also added six rebounds all on the defensive side. Richard Dekl scored 17, Brandon Hazzard scored 14, Travis Lee scored 11 and Mario Telfair socred 10.
While USA out-scored Troy 28-20 in the paint but Troy would leal all of the other categories: 18-9 pts off T/O, 10-7 2nd chance pts, 13-2 Fast break pts, and bench scoring 46-29.
Troy led the entire game and their largest lead was 33 points at the 8:09 mark in the second half. The Jaguars really need to find some sort of spark at the Mitchell Center. All Jaguar fans need to come out and support Coach Arrow, Coach Pietre and both the Men’s and Women’s teams. Both teams are coming down the stretch and they need a good push to finish out the SBC schedule.
Go Jags!
Lady Jags End Three Game Losing Streak
The University of South Alabama Lady Jags end their losing streak at three games, defeating the Troy Trojans 68-60. The Jaguars record improves to 12-5 (3-3 SBC) while Troy falls to 8-8 on the season and 3-3 in the Sun Belt Conference.
In contrast with the last few games, the Lady Jags got off to a good start to match their opponent. For the first 11 minutes of the first half both teams kept it close until Shakria Nettles broke the 17-17 tie and started a 7-2 run for the Jags. It led to USA opening up their largest lead of the half, 26-19. Troy would battle back to pull within three point at halftime, 28-25.
The Trojans would come out and score four points quickly in to begin the second half taking the lead at 29-28. Ra’Shawna Sippio would put the Jags on her back and score the next 11 points to retake the lead 41-36 with under 15 minutes to go.
The Trojans would then score 11 points unanswered over a two and a half minute span and retaking the lead from USA.
USA would then start another run of their own going on a 10-0 run, retaking the lead once again for the Jags at 51-47.
Troy, not giving up, battled back again to retake the lead for what would be their final time at 54-53. USA would close out the game with a 15-6 run and the Jaguar defense would hold strong only allowing Troy to shoot 2-15 over the that run.
Ra’Shawna Sippio would lead the Jags in scoring with 22 points on 9-19 shooting and hitting half of her 8 shots from the charity stripe. She would also come down with 11 rebounds to achieve her fifth double-double of her career.
Shakira Nettles and Jessica Starling would be the only other jags in double digits. Nettles would score 16 points on 6-12 shooting, going 3-7 from 3-point range and hitting one of her two free-throw attempts. Jessica Starling scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting while going 2-5 from outside the arc and hitting both of her two free-throw attempts.
The Trojans’ Kylie Morrissy would lead all scorers with 28 points going 10-22 and hitting 1-3 3-point attempts but hitting all 7 free-throw attempts. Donette McNair would score 9 points but would come down with 15 rebounds, 10 of them on the defensive side.
USA scored 32 points in the paint compared to Troy’s 22. USA would also out-shoot Troy 44%-33% for the game and 35%-31% from 3-point range. But Troy would hit 9-10 from the free-throw line while USA struggled hitting only 9-16.
The Lady Jaguars will play next when they visit Arkansas State on Sunday with tip-off scheduled for 2:05pm.
Lady Jags Fall To Louisiana-Monroe 67-58
The Lady Jags played hard in the second half to cut the lead from 16 points to a single point but ULM proved to have too much left in the tank and won the game 67-58.
The Jags came out and struggled from the field for most of the first half and would only hit three of its first 13 shots. But with about eight and a half minutes left in the first half, the Jags would pull within three points when Jessica Starling would be fouled while shooting a 3-pointer. She would hit two of the three foul shots and those would prove to the their only points for the next four minutes. ULM would take advantage and go on a 13-2 run that would finally end with a Karina Sproal layup with just under four and a half minutes left.
Siedah Banks and Jessica Starling would help to pull the Lady Jags within nine points but would be stretched back out to 11 at halftime, 33-22.
The second half started off like the first half started, slow like molassas. ULM would take advantage and increase their lead in the first 3:15 of the second half to 41-25, a 16 point lead. But Nettles would awaken from her slump where she was held without a field goal against MTSU and for the first 20 minutes of the ULM game. She would hit two 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the second half and back-to-back ones with less than 14 to go to help USA close the gap to 41-31.
Both teams would trade a few shots over the next few minutes to again increase the lead to 13 at 46-33 with under nine and a half minutes to go. This is when the Lady Jaguars started to make their run. A 15-5 run over about a five minute stretch would would pull USA within 3 at 51-48 with under five minutes to go. A layup by Jessica Starling would then close the gap further to a single point, 51-50.
But ULM would outscore the Jags 16-8 the rest of the way with most of it coming from foul shots when USA was forced to foul.
Coach Pietre was quoted saying, “There are peaks and valleys in a season and we are definitely in a valley right now….we couldn’t make the plays we had to make to go ahead and finish it off once we got it to one possession.”
Jessica Starling would lead USA in scoring with 18 on 5-15 shooting and going 3-8 from outside the arc. The only other double digit scorer for USA was Shakira Nettles with 14 on 5-14 shooting while going 4-6 from 3-point range.
ULM had three to score in double digits, Lottie Moore would lead all in scoring with 21 on 6-17 shooting with 1-3 from 3-point range and 8-15 from the free-throw line. next was Ashley Wallis with 19 on 7-8 shooting and hitting all five free-throws. Then Jesse Carrier would score 11 on 1-8 shooting and going 1-3 from 3-point range but would hit all eight free-throw attemps.
USA would go on to shoot an abysmal 29% for the game, hitting only 24% in the first half. While ULM would shoot 37% for the game and 39% for the first half. ULM would also hit 73% of their free-throw attempts, having 25 attempts in the second half alone.
The other statistical categories were a dead heat between the two teams: Pts in the paint ULM 20, USA 18; Pts off turnovers USA 14, ULM 11; 2nd chance points USA 14, ULM 12; Fast break pts USA 4, ULM 0; Bench pts USA 8, ULM 5. Rebounds ULM 48, USA 42.
The Lady Jags will be in action again on Wednesday, January 14th when it hosts Troy, their in-state rival. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
Come out and support your Jags! Bleed it red!
Jaguar Men Win Big At Louisiana-Monroe
Jaguars win big, 90-57, while both DeAndre Coleman and Brandon Davis come away double-double performances. Coach Arrow decided to try a big starting lineup, using three forwards, with good results.
Brandon Davis hit all seven attempts from the floor in the first half, scoring 19 in the period. After a media time-out with just under 8 minutes to go, the Jags were down 32-38. Davis then scored 7 of the Jaguars 14 points to take the lead going into the locker room up 42-37. While Lawrence Gilbert would score 14 and Jarvis Hill would score 12 going 4-5 from 3-point range in the first half for the Warhawks.
The Jaguars would open the second half with a 13-0 run, which would be a 16-0 run spanning the last 3-point field goal by DeAndrae Ross to end the first half that would put USA up 54-37 with 15:50 to go in the game. USA kept the engine going by pushing the lead out to 65-44 with over 10 minutes to go.
Domonic Tilford would further push the lead out to 30 with a 3-pointer with eight minutes left and the Jags largest lead (37) would come with just under five minutes to play on a Tilford layup, 85-48. Then both teams would cruise to the final score of 90-57, an impressive 33 point victory.
Brandon Davis was a perfect 11-11 from the floor and going 8-10 from the free throw line to score a career best 30 points while grabbing 10 rebounds, 7 of them defensive and adding two blocks and two steals for the game. DeAndrae Coleman added 12 points on 6-12 shooting with 11 rebounds, 9 of them defensive. Then to round out the double digits scoring was Domonic Tilford with 22 on 8-11 shooting and going 4-7 from 3-point range and hitting both attempts from the free-throw line.
The Warhawks were lead by Lawrence Gilbert who scored 16 points in the game going 4-7 from the floor and 4-6 from 3-point range and sinking all four shots from the free-throw line. Jarvis Hill was the only other Warhawk to score in double digits with 14 on 3-12 shooting going 1-3 from outside the arc and 7-10 from the charity stripe.
The telling stats for the game were the FG and 3FG percentages for the two teams. USA shot 64% from the floor and 58% from 3-point range compared to Louisiana-Monroe’s 27% from the floor and 48% from outside the arc. The Warhawks went from 10-29 from the floor in the first half to 5-26 in the second half.
Additionally, USA out-rebounded them 38-27 for the game with 29 of the rebounds coming on the defensive side. The Jags claimed all of the other telling stats: Points in the paint 44-8, points of of turn-overs 16-8, second chance points 13-11, fast break points 9-0 and bench scoring 19-15. Plus the Jags held the Warhawks to only 20 points in the second half.
Louisiana-Monroe falls to 5-10 (1-3 in the SBC) while USA improves to 10-6 (3-2 in the SBC).
The Jaguars will return to the court when they host Troy on January 15th with tip-off set for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center. Come out and support your Jags!
Go Jags!
Lady Jags Fall At Home For First Time This Season
The USA Lady Jags would jump out to a quick lead making the first basket but that would be their only lead of the game, falling to the Lady Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State 80-57. This loss puts the Lady Jags at 11-4 for the season and 2-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.
After USA made the first points of the game, the Raiders would go on a 25-8 run over the next seven minutes to take control of the game. MTSU had the hot hand early making their first seven shots which included three 3-point field goals, a couple by Brandi Brown early in the half. While USA was cold and only shot 2 of 9 during the same stretch. At the end of the run MTSU was up 25-11.
They did not stop there, Chelsia Lymon would make two 3-pointers in the closing minutes, one of them at the buzzer, to lead the Blue Raiders into the locker room with a 19 point lead, 40-21. Lymon’s buzzer beating shot was the ninth of the first half for the Blue Raiders on 13 attempts.
The Lady Jags came out of the locker room and tried to rally, cutting the lead down to 15 at 50-35 about five minutes into the second half. But the Blue Raiders would not let the Jags get any more momentum. The rest of the half was all downhill until the Jags were down by 30. USA would trim the lead back down to the 23 point margin of victory for the Blue Raiders.
Coach Pietri was in disbelief a few times at the Jags shooting and defensive woes. He made several substitutions and defensive changes in the second but the Blue Raiders would exploit different holes in the defense and continue scoring.
Alysha Clark lead the game in scoring for MTSU with 23 and adding 18 rebounds for a double double going 8-19 from the floor and 7-9 from the charity stripe. Other top scorers for MTSU were Brandi Brown scoring 17 on 6-8 shooting from the floor and 5-7 from outside the arc with 5 rebounds, Jackie Pickel scoring 14 on 5-9 shooting and 4-7 from 3-point range, and Chelsia Lymon with 11 points on 4-6 shooting and 3-4 from 3-point range. MTSU ended the game shooting 12 of 22 from outside the arc.
USA was lead in scoring by Jessica Starling who had 18 points on 5-14 shooting and hitting 3 of 7 from 3-point range and making all five of her free throws. Seidah Banks was the next highest scorer with 9 on 4 of 4 shooting and hitting her only attempt from 3-point range. Karina Sproal had 8 points, six of them on two early 3-pointers in the first half, but could not hit any of her later shots until two free-throws late in the second half.
MTSU shot 45% for the game from the field to a woeful 27% for USA, with a blistering 51% to 28% in the first half. The Blue Raiders also lead in 3-point FG percentage 55% to 28%, going 9-13 in the first half. MTSU lead with points in the paint 24-14 and points off turnovers 19-10. But USA did outscore MTSU on 2nd chance points 24-14 and fast break points 4-0. Plus USA’s bench scored 19 compared to MTSU’s bench scoring only 7 points for the game.
The Lady Jags will travel to Monroe, Louisiana to take on Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday with Tip-off set for 7:05pm.
One high point to the game was that the Thunderjags.com co-founder Matt had a visitor come sit next to him during the first half.
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| Matt with South Paw at the Lady Jags game. |
Jags Suffer Hard Loss To MTSU 82-67
The Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State stay undefeated in the Sun Belt Conference with a win at the Mitchell Center 82-67. The game mirrored how the weather was in Mobile for the day, sloppy and a bit ugly at times.
The Jags held an early lead after tip-off but the Raiders quickly took the lead and held it the rest of the way. USA held its own in the first half and was down by as much as eight points and would come back to tie the game after a 11-3 run that was spurred by Phillip Tabet coming in with an assist, tipping-in a shot, sinking two free-throws and blocking a shot. He would finish the game with 13 minutes of play time, scoring four points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. With 4:30 left in the first half the score was tied at 26 and they would see three more tied before MTSU went into the locker room with a four point lead at 36-32.
With 17:41 left in the game, the Jags were hanging in only down 41-35 until an 11-2 run in only two and a half minutes firmly put the contest into MTSU’s favor at 52-37.
The Jags would make a seven point run with about eight minutes left to bring the Jags within 14 with less than five minutes to go and would cut the lead even further with under two minutes to go at 78-65. But 13 points would be as close as they could get.
Watching the game, you see why MTSU was chosen to finish first in the SBC Eastern Division when you see that they made nearly 70% of their shots from the floor in the second half. They outshot USA for the game 49%-44% from the floor, 44%-39% from 3-point range and 90%-70% from the free-throw line.
For the fifth consecutive game, Domonic Tilford lead the team in scoring with 18. He was helped by DeAndre Coleman who scored 13 and Brandon Davis with 11 before he fouled out in the final minutes. Ronald Douglas had 5 blocks.
MTSU was lead in scoring by Demetrius Green who had 18 and was helped by Desmond Yates with 17, Kevin Kanaskie with 16 and Montarrio Haddock with 13 to round out the double digit scorers.
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| A Frustrated Coach Arrow sheds his jacket. |
Lady Jags Down Ohio 68-64 But Fall Short At FAU 67-66
It was Jessica Sarlings’ basket and free throw late that sealed the win over Ohio University and to run its record up to 11 wins for the season.
USA held a six point lead at halftime 42-36. After halftime, the jags would score 8 of the first 10 points to jump out to a 50-38 lead with 16:24 left in the game. About a minute later, still holding an 11 point lead, the jaguar offense went cold. With 38.3 seconds to play in the contest, Ohio pulled to within one points, 65-64, after a pair of free-throws.
Starling then stepped up for the Jags by driving in for layup with time winding down on the shot clock and was fouled on the play. She then sand the bonus shot to give USA the 68-64 win.
Shakira Nettles led the way for the Jags with 20 points on 8-19 shooting, 4-9 from beyond the arc and a team high 7 rebounds for the game. Her foil for Ohio, Lauren Hmiel, also scored 20 points with 7 rebounds. Jessica Starling added 16 to be the only other Jaguar in double digits. Notably, USA outscored Ohio 21-9 off turnovers while the other statistical categories were pretty much even.
After this win, the USA Lady Jaguars then picked up a second honorable mention vote in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Florida Atlantic upset the Lady Jags 67-66 when Jessica Starlings three-point attempt in the final seconds missed its mark. However the team showed alot of poise in the game. Trailing by eight points with under four minutes remaining, the Jags rally and nearly won the game on the last second shot attempt.
FAU held the lead at halftime 34-32 and would extend its lead to four early in the second half when USA would use its outside shooting to retake the lead. Starling would put the Jags up 43-38 with 16:15 to go with one of her five second half 3’s.
FAU would answer with an 8-0 run and take the lead at 46-43 with 13:40 left. The Jags and the Owls would exchange the lead several times in the next six minutes until USA took a 3 point lead on a 3-pointer from Lauren Walker. But for the next four and a half minutes the Jaguars went stone cold and FAU went on a 11-0 run grabbing its largest lead of the game at 67-59.
The Lady Jaguar defense then tightened up and held FAU scoreless for the last 4:36 of the game.
Jessica Starling lead all in scoring with 24 on 9-19 shooting, 6-13 from 3-point range. Shakira Nettles was the only other Jaguar to score in double digits with 19. Ra’Shawna Sippio pulled down 12 rebounds, 8 of them on the offensive side.
Field Goal Percentage was a dead heat between the two teams with USA shooting 36.1% to FAU’s 35.9%. But USA shot 29% from the FT line compared to 76% for FAU. Also, FAU had an edge in points in the paint 22-14, points off turnovers 12-6 and bench scoring 24-14 in their upset victory.
The Jags host Middle Tennessee State on Sunday with tip-off scheduled fro 2:05PM at the Mitchell Center.
Go Jags!
Tilford Scores 27 To Lead Jags Over FAU
Scoring a game high 27 points, Domonic Tilford lead USA to a wire-to-wire, 74-69 win over Florida Atlantic in southern Florida. While Brandon Davis scored 11 to be the only other player to score in double digits.
USA led the entire first half shooting 54% and going 4-7 from 3-point range on Tilfords 12 first half points. The Jags led 32-22 after Brandon Davis answered a FAU 3-pointer with a dunk with less than five minutes to go in the half, but went scoreless from that point through halftime. Going into the lockerroom at the half they had a slim 32-30 lead.
The Jags hit an early three in the second half to extend their lead to 5 but over the first seven minutes of the second half, FAU would close within 1 point three times. After a quick 7-2 run in just over a minute, the Jags jumped out to a six point lead, 50-44.
Another short run over two minutes saw FAU climb back within 2 points midway through the second half at 52-50. Methodically the Jags would pull out to a nine point lead, 67-58 with 4:40 remaining on the clock. Up by eight with less than four minutes to go FAU would score 6 straight points to close the advantage to two points 69-67 with just over a minute and a half left.
Sherrer sunk two shots from the free throw line, then FAU’s Monroe sunk two foul shots and C. J. Garner hit one of two foul shots to put the Jags up 72-69. To preserve the win, Garner blocks Carderro Nwoji’s attempt at a 3-pointer with four seconds left which lead to him making a layup to end the game.
FAU out rebounded USA 31-22 and hit 19-22 from the free throw stripe. USA out-shot FAU 57%-46% from the field and also outshot them 46%-15% from 3-point range. They were even scoring in the paint, USA held a slight advantage in points off turnovers 12-11. FAU outscored USA in 2nd chance shots 15-7 while USA had 8 fast break points to FAU’s 0. But bench scoring made the biggest difference in the game with USA scoring 22 and FAU could only muster 5 from one player, however that number is a bit misleading since FAU’s roster only lists seven players for the game.
USA will host Middle Tennessee State at the Mitchell Center on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 7:05PM. These two teams were chosen to finish 1-2 in the SBC Eastern Division this season. Additionally, these two teams are the top two point producers thus far in the Sun Belt Conference. Domonic Tilford leads the league with 19.3 points per game and 3.25 3-pointers per game. While Desmond Yates is second in the league with 19 points per game but leads the conference with 62% FG percentage.
Come out and support the Jags in their first home conference game since Western Kentucky on December 18th. GO JAGS! BLEED IT RED!
Latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll Honorably Mentions Lady Jags
The Lady Jaguars are starting to be recognized outside of the Sun Belt Conference for thier 10-2 start to the season. They have been rewarded with an honorable mention vote in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and is the only Sun Belt school to receive a vote in the poll this week.
This marks only the fifth time in the schools history that USA has received a vote in a national poll. Last year the Lady Jags had at least one vote for 3 straight weeks in the national poll, receiving as many as 3 in one poll. Previously USA had a vote in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches preseason poll prior to the 2003-2004 season, during the 2003-2004 season they received two honorable mention votes in the AP poll and eight votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
Connecticut topped the polls this week with a perfect 10-0 record with 31 first-place votes.
The Lady Jaguars next game will be tonight at the Mitchell Center when they host Ohio University in its final non-conference game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05pm.
Go Jags!