USA Women’s Basketball To Open Home Schedule Tonight
South Alabama Women’s Basketball team will host Nicholls State for their home opener on Wednesday night. They look to get their first win of the season as they have started the season 0-2 after they fell to Southern Miss 93-69 last week.
Meghan Dunn is the Jaguars leading scorer averaging 12.5 points per game and shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Ronneka Robertson is next with 11.0 points per game while shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Robertson also averages 8.5 rebounds per game. Breanna Hall and Rachel Cumbo both average 5.5 rebounds per game.
As a team they are averaging 24 turnovers per game.
The colonels come to Mobile with a 1-1 record after winning their season opener against SUNO 91-58 but fell last Thursday to then nineth ranked Baylor 111-58.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05pm at the Mitchell Center.
Terry Fowler Hired As Head Women’s Basketball Coach
Terry Fowler was named the new head women’s basketball coach at South Alabama. | timesdaily.com
South Alabama Athletics Director Joel Erdmann announced he has hired Terry Fowler as the head women’s basketball coach for the Jaguars. Fowler is coming off two NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in the last three years at the University of North Alabama.
Fowler has been the head coach at UNA for the last seven seasons as the guided the Lions to the NCAA tournament in both 2011 and 2013 by winning 20-plus games in each of those seasons. He was chosen to Gulf South Conference East Division Coach of the Year in 2011 after leading his team to a 12-0 record in conference play. They would finish 21-7 after advancing to the NCAA Tournament for thier first appearance in the event since the 1993-94 season.
When Fowler was hired by UNA, he inherited a team that won 11 games combined the two previous seasons. In his first season, he led the Lions to a 14-14 record overall and their first berth in the conference tournament since 2003. He then coached the team to winning records in each of the last five season posting an overall record of 115-87 for a 56.9 winning percentage. He also has a 57-32 record in conference play for a 64 winning percentage.
Fowler has previously worked at both Spring Hill and South Alabama prior to his stint at UNA. He was an assistant on the Lady Jaguars staff during the 2000-01 and ’01-02 seasons. He also served as an assistant at SHC from 1993-98 before being promoted to head coach before the start of the ’98-99 season. He led the Badgers to their first-ever NAIA Tournament appearance with a 23-11 overall record while winning both the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles. He was named the conference coach of the year.
He returned to SHC in 2002 to lead the Badgers to their first ever NAIA national ranking and the semifinals of the GCAC TOurnament on two occasions.
Mansa El Selected For WBCA’s “So You Want To Be A Coach” Program At Final Four
With the NCAA Basketball Tournament getting close to the end, a University of South Alabama women’s basketball player will be making an appearance at this weekend’s Final Four being held in New Orleans.
Senior Mansa El was one of just 50 student-athletes from around the country who was chosen last month to participate in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s 11th Annual “So You Want To Be A Coach” program. It’s a three day workshop that is scheduled to begin on Friday in conjunction with the WBCA National Convention in New Orleans.
This program’s mission is to assist female collegiate basketball players who are interested in pursuing a coaching career in women’s basketball. It gives them professional development and career advancement through education, skills enhancement, networking and opportunities for exposure. It also helps to increase awareness regarding the availability of talented female basketball players who want to become a coach.
There are six criteria an applicant must meet in order to be selected. They must have exhausted their final year of basketball eligibility at a four-year institution or graduated in the past year, they want to pursue a career in coaching, be a credit to the sport of women’s basketball both on and off the court, been nominated by their head coach, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and be able to attend all three days of the program.
They also have to write an essay, submit her resume and have a letter of recommendation sent in for her.
El had to wait for over a month while all of the applications were evaluated and, just before the Sun Belt Tournament, she received the notice that she received an invitation.
El has been a member of the Lady Jaguar basketball team for the last three seasons, starting at point guard for the last two seasons. She is set to earn her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in May and is looking to pursue a coaching position.
During the three day clinic, the selected participants will see several 45-minute on-court demonstrations that will be presented by some of the leading coaches in the game. They will also attend seminars on a variety of topics such as how to balance a coaching career and live, recruiting, how to hire a staff and preparing for interviews. They will also participate in mock interview sessions on Sunday to use what they ahve learned during the seminar. On Saturday morning, they will assist the WBCA coaches with the NCAA Youth Clinics.
South Alabama Sports Weekend Update
Baseball
The South Alabama Jaguars clinched the series against Troy with an 11-10 win on Friday night and a 7-5 win on Saturday but fell in the third game 7-8 as they were unable to complete the sweep in the conference opener.
USA scored seven unanswered runs in the final two innings which included a game-winning home run by Nick Zaharion to bring home the 11-10 win.
On Saturday, Dylan Stamey tossed 4 1/3 shutout innings in relief while Kyle Bartsch pitched a perfect ninth inning as the Jags won 7-5 and clinch the series against Troy on Saturday. Stamey allowed one hit and one walk while striking out a career-high five batters he faced to earn his fourth win of the season. Bartsch struck out one in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.
The Jags gave up five runs in the seventh inning as they fell to Troy 7-8 in the Sunday finale against the Trojans. The Jags held a 5-3 lead entering the bottom of the seventh inning but an error allowed the Trojans to cut the lead to 5-4. Then a two-run double would put the Trojans in the lead 5-6. Then one batter later a three-run home run would put the Jags up 8-5.
USA would score two more runs in the game but could not manufacture another run to tie the game up. The Jags improve to 17-4 overall over the weekend and 2-1 in Sun Belt play while Troy falls to 12-6 overall and 1-2 in Sun Belt play.
USA will travel to Hammond, Louisiana to take on Southeastern Louisiana University on Tuesday with first pitch set for 6pm.
Softball
The South Alabama softball team won two out the three games over the weekend against #22 ranked Louisiana-Lafayette at Jaguar Field by scores of 7-3 and 8-4.
Senior Brittany Fowler batted .833 with three home runs, four runs scored and seven RBI on Saturday alone. She went 5-for-6 with a slugging percentage of 2.333.
Hannah Campbell and Farish Beard each pitched complete games on Saturday. Hannah struck out two to improve to 10-4 on the season while Beard struck out three and only allowed four hits to improve to 10-0 on the season.
The Jags fell 1-2 in the third game of the series on Sunday as Kaitlyn Griffith hit a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to give the Jags an early lead. ULL took the lead for good with a two-run fourth inning.
Ragin’ Cajun pitcher Jordan Wallace struck out 15 Jaguars on the way to the win.
The Jags improve to 23-5 overall over the weekend and 2-1 in Sun Belt play. ULL comes out of the weekend with a 19-11 record overall and 2-4 in conference play.
The Lady Jaguars will host UAB on Wednesday with a first pitch set for 4pm at Jaguar Field. They previously defeated the Blazers 8-2 on March 2 in the Magic City Classic.
Men’s Basketball
The season isn’t quite over just yet. The Jags will participate in the postseason for the first time in five years after accepting a spot in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
The Jags will face the Green Wave of Tulane on Wednesday at Devlin Fieldhouse in Louisiana. Tipoff is set for 7pm.
This is the fifth year for the CIT and it’s 32 team tournament. Previous winners of the tournament are Old Dominion (2009), Missouri State (2010), Santa Clara (2011) and Mercer (2012).
Interim head coach Jeff Price’s tenure on the court with be extended at least one more game. The Jags are in the midst of a coaching search for the head coaching position, which Price is also vying for.
The Jags are 17-12 on the season and went 14-6 in Sun Belt play. Tulane has a 19-14 record overall, it’s best since the 1999-2000 season.
Women’s Basketball
In a bit of a surprise on Friday, Athletics Director Joel Erdmann announced that he had relieved head coach Rick Pietri of his duties after 13 seasons at the helm of the women’s program.
“We will begin a national search immediately and look far and wide and near and far for who the next coach will be,” Erdmann said to AL.com. “It will be very similar to other searches that we have conducted. Obviously, we are looking for someone who has ties to competitive success and winning, while at the same time maintaining their eye on excellence in the classroom and managing a tremendous overall program.”
Pietri, in a phone interview with AL.com was very grateful of former AD Joe Gottfried for hiring a boys’ high school coach in 2000 to take over a women’s program that had struggled for several years. He also indicated that only one of his seasons was not better than the 10 season’s previous to his.
Pietri leaves as the school’s all-time winningest coach with a record of 220-167 and 111-104 record against Sun Belt Conference opponents. He had three 20-win seasons, the most recent in the 2008-09 season.
Erdmann indicated that he hopes to have a new coach hired as soon as possible. Possibly as soon as April.
The Lady Jags went 17-13 overall this season and fell in the first round of the SBC Tournament.
Football
The Jaguar football team will pick up where they left off prior to Spring Break. They will hit the practice fields at the Jaguar Practice Facility around 6am on Tuesday morning.
Pietri Not Being Retained
Reports are surfacing that Women’s basketball coach Rick Pietri will not be retained by the University of South Alabama.
This news comes as a bit of a shock to fans of the program. We will have more as more information comes out.
Jaguar Sports Weekend Update
Men’s Basketball
The Jags fell on the road to Western Kentucky on Thursday night after falling behind by as many as 14 points against the Hilltoppers. But the Jags surged late but just could not make up the deficit and fell 79-73 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Rubit finished with 23 points and nine rebounds with four assists and three steals. Javier Carter got his second consecutive double-double with a season high 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also added six blocks and three steals against the Toppers.
The Jags rebounded in the season finale trip to Troy to face their in-state rival Trojans. The Jags capped off the season with a 53-49 win on Saturday night in the Jags first game in Troy’s brand new Trojan Arena.
South Alabama fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half and trailed by nine points at halftime. But outscored the Trojans 34-21 in the second half to come away with the victory. But it took a key defensive stop late to preserve the Jaguar victory.
Javier Carter picked up his third consecutive double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Carter also added five blocked shots including one with :12 seconds left to preserve the Jaguars three point lead at the time.
Augustine Rubit also added to his season total of double-doubles with a 13-point, 10 rebound effort.
Antoine Allen scored nine of this 12 points in the second half for the Jags.
South Alabama finishes the regular season with a 17-11 record overall and a 14-6 record in Sun Belt play. Troy lost their fifth consecutive game of the season to fall to 11-20 overall and 6-14 in Sun Belt play.
Troy’s head coach Don Maestri continues to be suck on 499 career wins.
South Alabama, who secured the #3 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament, will face the winner of the #6 seed Western Kentucky and #11 seed UL-Monroe game at 8:30pm on Saturday night at the Convention Center Court in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
In the Jags same bracket, #7 FAU and #10 Troy will face on in the first round then the winner with face #2 seed Arkansas State at 9pm on Saturday night in the SUmmit Arena. The winner of that side of the bracket will face the winner of the Jaguars side of the braket at 9pm on Sunday in the Semifinal game.
Football
South Alabama held their second practice of the spring practice period on Saturday morning and their third on Sunday afternoon. With three new faces coaching on the defensive side of the ball, including first year defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer.
Sherrer, instead of installing a new playbook, is focusing on getting all of the players on the same page. They are working on communication and new signals and terminology.
“The goal is for the new staff to communicate what they want out of the players, and for the players to understand what they [the coaches] want,” head coach Joey Jones explained after practice. “We want the players to come out of the spring totally understanding what our defensive staff wants them to do. The interaction seems to be extremely good. Our players appear to have a great feel for what the coaches want. They like the new coaches and understand they know what they are talking about and they have a great relationship off the field. It’s been real good for us.”
Sherrer was hired before the start of the spring semester and NCAA rules allowed several meetings in the offseason, is helping to achieve Coach Jones’ goals for this spring.
“I was in the first team meeting when they got back from the winter break, so they knew who I was,” Sherrer said. “A lot of them came by with questions, and we were allowed a couple of hours per week in the offseason to meet with them so we were able to get in there and teach them a little bit. The toughest part was getting the staff acclimated to what we are going to do because we all came from different directions. But so far it has gone well. The players have adapted to it and are eager to learn.”
Sherrer is using veterans on the team to help get his message to the rest of the team. Bryson James, Clifton Crews, Enrique Williams, Romelle Jones, Darrius Morrow and Tyrell Pearson, all who started last season for the Jags, were acknowledged by Sherrer as having a lot of experience and leadership ability on the team.
Sherrer is building a strong foundation on which the rest of the defensive scheme will be built. It may be very simple right now, but his process will build upon that and gain complexity throughout the spring and fall camp.
“We want to have a good understanding of the defense and the scheme that we want to run,” Sherrer explained. “We want to evaluate the players that are out there and see who fits the scheme and make sure we’re doing the right things. The most important part is that we want to come away with the right fundamentals, defense striking with their hands, tackling the right way and pursuing the football.”
They will return to the practice field at 6am on Tuesday with another two hour practice scheduled for the team.
Women’s Basketball
The #7 seed South Alabama Lady’s Basketball team will open the Sun Belt Tournament on Friday with a 2pm game against #10 Troy in the Convention Center. The winner of that game will advance to play the #2 seed Arkansas-Little Rock at 2:30pm on Saturday at the Summit Arena.
On the other side of the same bracket at the Jags has #6 North Texas opening at 2:30pm against #11 UL-Lafayette. The winner will then advance to play #3 seed Western Kentucky on Saturday. The winner will then face the winner of the other side of the bracket in the semi-final game on Sunday.
Softball
After dropping only their second game of the season, to #1 ranked Alabama on Thursday, the Lady Jaguar softball team turned around and swept through the Magic City Classic Tournament in Birmingham Alabama this weekend. The Jags defeated Murray State twice, the first 1-0 on Friday then again on Saturday 8-6. They then defeated UAB 8-2 in their second game on Saturday. Then they capped off the weekend by defeating Samford 4-0 on Sunday for a 4-game sweep of the weekend.
Third baseman Haley Fagan took a 1-0 pitch and drove it over the center field wall for a grand-slam to lift the Jags over Samford on Sunday.
Both Julie Moss and Brittany Campbell were named to the All-Tournament Team with Farish Beard named Co-Most Valuable Pitcher and Brittany Fowler named Most Valuable Player of the Tournament.
The Jags will host Nicholls State on Wednesday. The Lady Jags defeated Nicholls 7-1 earlier this season in Louisiana.
The Lady Jags are 17-2 overall this season. Next weekend they will travel to Long Beach California for the Long Beach State Invitational where they will face UC-Santa Barbara, Idaho State, UCLA, Utah and the host Long Beach State.
Once they return from that tournament, they will have the week off before hosting Louisiana-Lafayette over the weekend to open their Sun Belt schedule.
Baseball
The Jaguar lost their first game of the season on the road in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday night to College of Charleston by a score of 12-2.
The Jags then rebounded in the second game to win it 3-0 but then fell 2-3 on Sunday to get only their second loss of the season.
The Jags are 10-2 on the season and will return to action against Nicholls State on Tuesday in Thibodaux, Louisiana with a 6:30pm first pitch. They then return home to host Southern Miss on wednesday for another 6:30pm first pitch.
South Alabama Athletics Weekend Update
Men’s Basketball
The Jaguar Men’s basketball team defeated North Texas at the Mitchell Center on Saturday night 69-57. Four Jags scored in double figures with Javier Carter earning his third career double-double on Senior night.
The Jags started their conference home schedule with a loss, but ended it against North Texas with seven consecutive wins. This improved the Jags to 16-10 overall and 13-5 in Sun Belt Conference play. UNT fell to 11-19 and 6-13 in Sun Belt play.
Senior Wendell Wright set a new career high in scoring with 10 points and a season best five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Mychal Ammons led all scorers with 18 points. Augustine Rubit was held to nine points, but came down with 15 rebounds.
The Jags never trailed in the game.
USA continues to hold onto second place in the conference with a 13-5 record, one game ahead of Arkansas State who clinched the western division title with a 12-6 Sun Belt record.
The Jags basketball team travels to Western Kentucky for a Thurday night tip-off set for 7pm. It will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Women’s Basketball
The Lady Jaguars defeated North Texas 65-61 behind Mansa El’s 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in her final game at the Mitchell Center.
The trio of seniors, Mansa El, Camille Reynolds and Mary Nixon combined for 44 points to lead the way for the victory.
The Lady Jags improve to 15-12 overall and 8-10 in Sun Belt play. They are fifth out of six schools in the Sun Belt’s Eastern division, one-half game behind FAU for a tie for fourth place and in eihth place overall in the conference.
The Lady Jags will travel to Western Kentucky and play the Lady Toppers on Wednesday night with tip-off set for 7pm.
Baseball
The Jags set a new school record Friday night at Eddie Stanky Field by defeating former conference foe University of New Orleans 29-6 after a 13 run eighth inning.
Their Saturday game was rained out, but they were able to get in a double-header on Sunday which the Jags sweeped with more modest scores of 4-1 and 5-2.
The Jaguars baseball team improved their record to 7-0 on the season. They will return to action on Tuesday and Wednesday when they travel to Jacksonville, Alabama to face Jacksonville State University for a two-game mid-week series. First pitch for Tuesday’s game is set for 6:30pm at Rudy Abbot Field.
Softball
The Lady Jags traveled to Jacksonville, Florida for the Jacksonville University Tournament. They went 4-0 before their final game was cancelled due to field conditions.
The Jags earned their seventh run-rule win of the season when they defeated Mount St. Mary’s 12-2 in 5 innings in the early Friday game. They then turned around and faced host school Jacksonville University and came away with a 7-0 win.
On Saturday, the Jags had another two game schedule. Their first was against Seton Hall which they earned their eighth run-rule win of the season with an 8-0 win in 6 innings. Their late game on Saturday was against Delaware which they won in a 1-0 decision.
The Lady Jags will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Tuscaloosa for a make-up game against the University of Alabama. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00pm.
Track and Field
USA had two all-conference performances in the first day of the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships on Sunday. They also had a new school record set on the first day.
Nick Farrell came in first place and earned all-conference honors in the men’s pole vault when he cleared 5.00m. While his teammates William Henley and Connor Smith finished as part of a three-way tie for fifth place by vaulting 4.70m.
Briana Aiken also earned all-conference honors in the women’s long jump when she set a new school record of 6.01m. She finished in third place.
Complete results can be found here on the Jaguar Athletics website.
Day two will begin on Monday at 9am.
SBC Officials Choose New Orleans To Host Future Basketball Championships
Almost lost lead-up to National Signing Day, the Sun Belt Conference office announced on Tuesday where the future Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will be held starting in 2014.
Conference officials announced that Lakefront Arena in New Orleans will be the new host site of the SBC Tournament through 2016. Previously, Lakefront Arena hosted the Sun Belt Championships in 2002 when the University of New Orleans was a member of the conference. However this time it will be a neutral site for the tournament, making it the third such arena to host the Sun Belt Tournament as a neutral site.
Recently Lakefront Arena has undergone renovations that include $3.5 million eterior metal facade and sloped roof panels, a $1.5 million state-of-the-art bitumen roof system, $2.5 million in new seating with 8,700 total seats, $1.2 million in ramp renovations, new flooring through out the second level concourse, new tiles and restroom fixtures throughout the building, lighting upgrades, a new sound system and the addition of two new lounges.
This announcement about the relocation of the tournament comes with a year left on the existing agreement with the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Both parties mutually agreed to split ways after the fifth consecutive year of hosting the Tournament after this year’s tournament on March 8-11.
“All of the characteristics that make New Orleans one of the greatest tourist destinations in the world will guarantee that the Sun Belt Conference’s student-athletes, fans, coaches and administrators will love coming to the ‘Big Easy’ every March,” Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation CEO Jay Cicero said in a statement with the Sun Belt Conference. “We look forward to playing an important role in making this one of the NCAA’s best conference tournaments.”
“New Orleans is a great destination for our basketball championships and the recent renovations to Lakefront Arena make it an excellent venue to showcase our league,” Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson said in a statement on Tuesday. “In addition to being a great geographical fit for our membership, New Orleans has an incredible track record of hosting great sporting events – including the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl which has had a Sun Belt participant since the inaugural game in 2001. The city’s great restaurants, shopping, entertainment and accommodations, provide Sun Belt fans numerous things to do when away from the arena.”
“New Orleans is a great destination for Sun Belt fans, as those who have attended the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl can attest,” said Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor of Troy University and President of the Sun Belt Conference Executive Committee in the statement. “It provides an excellent geographical fit for our league and is easily reachable for our fans. As we make this announcement, however, I would be remiss if I did not thank the City of Hot Springs for four and soon to be five memorable tournaments, starting in 2009.”
“The city of Hot Springs and the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau have been terrific for the Sun Belt Conference,” said Commissioner Benson. “When Hot Springs began hosting the tournament in 2009 it was the first neutral site that the Sun Belt had used in over twenty years. The leadership of Steve Arrison and his staff made the existence of a neutral site basketball tournament for the Sun Belt possible.”
“We have had a great partnership with the Sun Belt Conference over the past five years and are looking forward to a great tournament come March,” said Hot Spring Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO Steve Arrison in the statement released by the Sun Belt Conference. “We originally had only a three year deal with the Sun Belt and are fortunate that next month we will have had five outstanding Sun Belt tournaments here in Hot Springs.”
Dates for the 2014 tournament will be released at a later date. But it is very exciting that New Orleans will be the host for the next three years. It’s a much easier location to reach for fans and has virtually unlimited sites and activities for fans to enjoy outside of the Arena. The city definitely had the upper hand as that is where the Conference headquarters are still located.
Lady Jags Score 61-51 Win Over ULM
The Lady Jaguars basketball team rebounded from their 67-47 loss to North Texas on Saturday to score a 61-51 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday. The Jags recorded a season-high 50 rebounds and 27 second-chance points were key stats in the victory. It also improved the Jags record to 11-7 overall (4-5 SBC) while ULM falls to 3-14 overall (1-7 SBC).
“I was really disappointed in how we started the game,” lady Jag head coach Rick Pietri said. “We got a basket right out of the box and I thought that would catapult us, but our defensive energy wasn’t where it needed to be. That bothered me. It took us a while before we got it revved up to where it needed to be. We credit Louisiana-Monroe, because they came out juiced and ready to play. The last 30 minutes of the game, I thought we defended the way we’re capable of, but in the first 10, we just didn’t have the right zest to guard.”
“We’ve talked about how important it is to approach things with confidence and belief,” Pietri continued. We had trouble early putting the ball in the goal when we had reasonable scoring chances. That’s a problem we’ve been having, and it continued to suck the life out of us. We did reasonably well from that point forward, and defensively our energy was where it needed to be for the rest of the game. In the second half, we defended the way our teams defend, and we held them to 29% in the second half. So we take the win and move on.”
Mansa El recorded a game-high 16 points by going 4-of-10 from the floor and 6-8 from the free throw stripe, good for a fourth double-double in the last five games.
Meghan Dunn added 12 points off the bench by going 4-of-8 from outside the arc. Brianna Wright added eight points and six rebounds. The Jags bench outscored the ULM bench 23-9 in the game.
Mary Nixon left the game in the first half after sufferring a concussion when her head hit the floor. Nixon will be evaluated this week for lingering signs of a concussion before being cleared to participate fully in practice and the Jags next game.
Also redshirt freshman Rachel Cumbo, who missed the entire 2011-2012 season and the first 17 games of this season after sufferring a pair of knee injuries, dressed out for the first time in her collegiate career.
The lady Jags will return to the court after a week off on Wednesday, January 23rd when they host Western Kentucky. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:05pm in that Sun Belt Conference Eastern Division showdown.
Lady Jags Down Sam Houston State 71-61 On Saturday
The Lady Jaguars improve to 7-3 on the season after they defeated Sam Houston State in the Mitchell Center on Saturday. For the first time this season the Lady Jags overcame a halftime deficit to pick up the 71-61 win over the Bearkats.
The Jags trailed by three points at halftime, but used a pair of runs early in the second half to overtake the Bearkats for the win.
“At the half, I talked to our team about the fact that we need to show more resolve and gumption,” head coach Rick Pietri said. “We needed to apply ourselves more from a standpoint of intensity and desire. I just felt like we were being out desired. Sam Houston State deserves credit for that. In the second half, I think our kids responded excellently in every aspect of the game. Our attention rose and we shot a much better percentage in the second half. I just think that all-in-all in the second half, the effort, the intensity, the discipline we were staying true to our principles and as a result we won the game.”
Camille Reynolds led the Jags with 14 points by going 4-of-6 from the floor with three 3-pointers. Mary Nixon added 11 points as well while Veronica Cherizol narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.
The Jaguar bench was the key to the victory, as it has been all season. The Jags had a 28-10 advantage over the Bearkat bench. Also three-point shots were key in the win as the Jags connected on 11 shots from outside the arc.
The Lady Jags will have an 11 day break for final exams before returning to the court with a trip to Central Florida on December 19.