USA Women’s Basketball Fall In Overtime 68-61
South Alabama’s woes continue as they lost their seventh consecutive game, this time in overtime, to Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cajundome 68-61.
The losing streak began against Troy on February 6, the game in which Brittany Webb was injured and lost for the remainder of the season. The team was already thin, but was extremely thin at point guard.
After dropping their last seven consecutive games, the lady Jaguars stand at 7-19 overall and 5-11 in conference play. They have fallen out of the top eight, who will fill the eight seeds for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans which is fast approaching.
With two games remaining, they are two games behind a trio of teams sitting at 7-9 in the conference. The Jags would have to win out and get some help from those teams ahead of them in order to potentially make the conference tournament. The math is pretty simple actually, win two games and ULM lose two games and the Jaguars are in.
Both games are at home for the Jaguars which could be just the help they need to get back into the win column. At least it would give them momentum going into the offseason. ULM will play the final two games of the season on the road at Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock, the first and third place teams in the conference.
As for the game itself, Ronnka Robertson posted a career performance with 28 points and 17 rebounds. But in overtime, the Cajuns outshot the Jags at the free throw line which made the difference. ULL was 9-of-10 from the free throw stripe, while the Jaguars were only 5-of-10.
The Lady Jags will try to do their part on Wednesday when they host Texas State at the Mitchell Center for a 7:05pm tipoff.
USA Men’s Basketball Cannot Overcome ULL’s Fast Start
South Alabama could not overcome a fast start by Louisiana-Lafayette and a 25-point halftime lead to fall 102-76 on Sunday in the Cajundome.
ULL used a 25-6 run over an 11-minute span in the first half to score the most first half points against the Jaguars all season. Bryant Mbamalu scored a game-high 32 points for the Cajuns and 11 of his 17 first half points in the opening 4:07 of the game.
Freshman Ken Williams recorded a career-high 22 points on five three-pointers. Sophomore Barrington Stevens III added a career-high 20 points while going 4-for-4 from outside the arc. They combined to score 31 of the Jaguars 49 points in the second half.
Augustine Rubit narrowly missed another double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds as he added four blocks to earn his way into the top 25 in the conference in this category.
This was the first Jaguar opponent to score over 100 points on the Jaguars since New Orleans on February 5, 1995.
With the loss, the Jaguars fall to 9-20 overall and 3-13 in conference play and only one game in the win column behind eighth place and the final seed in the conference tournament.
With the loss the Jaguars were eliminated from the Sun Belt Tournament and with that news Augustine Rubit’s phenominal career in a South Alabama jersey will conclude on Saturday against UT-Arlington.
The Jags will face Texas State on Thursday and UT-Arlington on Saturday to close out the season and hopefully have some positive momentum going into the offseason.
USA Baseball Clinch Series Against #24 Arkansas
The Jaguar baseball team fell 12-1 in the first game against #24 ranked Arkansas but rebounded on Saturday to claim both games of a double-header to win the weekend series against the Razorbacks.
In the first game the Razorbacks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first and the Jaguars never had a chance to rebound.
In game one of the double header, Locke St. John allowed just one run while scattering eight hits in a career-high 8 1/3 innings pitched as the Jags won 2-1. St. John struck out three and only walked two batters as he retired 8 of his final 10 batters faced. Brandon Hallford came in in the ninth to pick up his second save of the season.
In game two, Jaguar righty Kevin Hill allowed three runs on seven hits through eight innings of work while striking out five and walking three in his first career start as the Jags won the series finale 5-3.
Through the first eight innings Hill retired 10 consecutive batters before hitting a player with a pitch and walking another batter and being lifted in the ninth inning. Righty Brandon Hallford pitched one inning in relief and allowed only one hit to pick up his third save of the year, his second save of the day.
The Jags evened their season record at 5-5. They will travel to Jackson, Mississippi to face Jackson State on Tuesday before traveling to Starkville to face Mississippi State on Wednesday.
USA Softball Finishes Gulf Coast Classic With Win
The #14 ranked South Alabama Jaguar softball team split their two games on Saturday in the Gulf Coast Classic in Gulfport, Mississippi.
In the early game, the Jags defeated UT-San Antonio 3-0 as Farish Beard threw her second career no-hitter and a career-high 15 strikeouts.
USA outhit UTSA 4-0 and scored all of their runs int he fourth inning.
Freshmen Taylor Rodgers and Amanda Minahan combined to drive in the three Jaguar runs in the win. Rodgers delivered a two-RBI single. Minahan hit a solo home run, the first of her career to account for the third run against the Roadrunners.
In the nightcap, the Jags fell to #12 Baylor 1-0 as they could only manage two hits to the Bears nine and the first shutout of the Jaguars in their last 58 games which dates all the way back to their 4-0 loss to #1 Alabama on February 28, 2012.
Hannah Campbell suffered the loss against Baylor to fall to 4-1 on the season after pitching all seven innings, striking out eight and only walking one and allowing the one earned run.
In the final game of the tournament for the Jaguars, they defeated UT-Chatanooga 2-1 to go 4-1 in the 2014 Gulf Coast Classic.
Farish Beard struck out nine batters in four innings to improve to 9-1 on the season. Hannah Campbell struck out a two in three innings of relief to earn her third save of the season.
Stephanie Pilkington led USA by going 3-for-3 and scoring the game-winning run. Chloe Rathburn broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth inning after Rodgers tied the game up in the previous inning after Clara Bowen’s RBI single.
USA outhit UT-Chatanooga 5-2 and took advantage of advantage of two errors by the Moc’s.
The Jaguars are now 15-2 on the season and will next travel to Boca Raton, Florida next weekend for the Parents’ Weekend Tournament hosted by Florida Atlantic.
The 2014 South Alabama Football Schedule Has Been Released
The Jaguars rally at mid field after they enter the field to just prior to kickoff against Western Kentucky on Saturday, September 14, 2013.
This morning the Sun Belt Conference released the conference schedule. We already knew the Jags non-conference schedule but the SBC schedule was still up in the air at to who the team would be facing.
There are two SEC schools on the schedule and no FCS opponents.
The departure of Western Kentucky and the additions of Georgia Southern and Appalachian State as full members and New Mexico State and Idaho as football only members shuffled the schedules somewhat.
You will notice the Jags do not play ULM or New Mexico State this season, but they do travel to App. State and Idaho while hosting Georgia Southern.
After hosting Kent State, the will return to Ohio to face them again. The Jags will wrap up the season with two non-conference games against an SEC opponent in South Carolina and the Naval Academy.
Below is the full schedule for the Jags this season. Mark your calendars and get those tailgating and traveling plans started. We are just over six months away from kickoff of the 2014 season!
9/6 South Alabama @ Kent State
9/13 Miss. State @ South Alabama
9/20 Georgia Southern @ South Alabama
9/27 South Alabama @ Idaho
10/4 South Alabama @ Appalachian State
10/11 OPEN
10/18 Georgia State @ South Alabama
10/25 Troy @ South Alabama
11/1 South Alabama @ Louisiana-Lafayette
11/8 South Alabama @ Arkansas State
11/15 Texas State @ South Alabama
11/22 South Alabama @ South Carolina
11/28 Navy @ South Alabama
*NOTE: Kickoff times have not yet been announced.
“We are extremely excited about our 2014 schedule. Most people have pointed to this year since the beginning of the football program as one with peaked interest and enthusiasm,” Athletics Director Joel Erdmannstated. “The home portion of the schedule brings a type and level of college football experience to Mobile that has not been here before. Each opponent provides a unique attractiveness to that particular game. Adding even more intrigue is the continued development of our program against quality opponents both at home and on the road, as we will once again be facing multiple programs that have participated in a bowl game the last couple years.”
“Our crowds have continued to ‘mature’ and grow traditions, tailgating a certain way, cheering a certain way in various situations and ultimately creating a home field advantage which is vital to our program’s success. This year’s schedule brings a great opportunity for our loyal fans to renew their season tickets and to bring new people into the Jaguar Nation.”
“We are excited by the types of teams we are playing, obviously it will be very challenging. It’s probably the most challenging schedule we have played to date,” head coach Joey Jones said. “It’s a very challenging schedule, but it’s one that when our players look at it they get excited.”
“A lot of schools play four non-conference teams early in their schedule,” Jones stated. “I like the fact that Navy is at the end of ours.”
“We are going to have to watch how we practice and monitor our players,” Jones said about having five straight games before an off date. “We’re playing all Division I teams with some road games in that stretch, so we are going to have to be smart about how we handle these young men during the season. We have a lot of seniors who will be mentally tough enough to handle this, but we have to make sure that we do things and make decisions throughout the season where we are not wearing our players out.”
“I see Troy, Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas State and Texas State all in a row, that’s a tough road right there,” Jones continued. “But, it’s exciting to have Georgia Southern, a team that beat Florida last year, for our opening home conference game, there should be a lot of buzz around that game. Then we go to Idaho and Appalachian State which is two long trips in a row. I don’t know that you can ever design a schedule that is going to be perfect, so the bottom line is we are going to have to get ready each week to win ball games. That’s the mindset that we are going to have.”
Of the 12 teams on the schedule this season, five of them played in bowl games last season with each of them winning their game. Eight of the 12 teams had a winning season last year as well.
USA Softball Sweep Pair Of Friday Games; Sets up Top-15 Clash Saturday Night
The Jaguar softball team swept their two games on Friday in the Gulf Coast Classic in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Farish Beard and Hannah Campbell both earned wins with Chloe Rathburn and Emily Messer supplying two RBI each in wins over Ohio University and Nicholls State.
Beard (7-1) struck out 12 Ohio University batters and walked one in a 3-0 win over the Bobcats. Then Campbell (4-0) struck out nine with no walks in a 2-1 win over Nicholls State. Both Beard and Campbell allowed one hit each as the Jags out hit their opponents 10-2 combined on Friday.
Rathburn went 3-for-6 with two RBI and a solo home run to give the Jags the lead against Ohio University. Messer’s two RBI, which scored Taylor Rodgers and Alex Breeden, extended the Jaguar lead to 3-0.
Stephanie Pilkington scored both of the Jaguars runs against Nicholls State in the night cap. She went 2-for-4 with a team-leading third triple of the season. Freshman Amanda Minahan went 2-for-3 with an RBI double to help lead the Jaguars to the win.
The #14 ranked South Alabama Jaguars (13-1) will play two games today. Their first is against UT-San Antonio at 2pm. Then they have a top-15 clash against #12 Baylor at 8pm in the nightcap.
Men’s Basketball Falls At ULM
The South Alabama men’s basketball team was outscored 36-21 in the second half as Louisiana-Monroe coasted to a 71-54 win on Thursday night.
The Jags shot only 26.9% from the floor after halftime en route to scoring the fewest points of the season. A 16-3 run late in the game secured the victory for the Warhawks.
USA falls to 9-19 overall and 3-12 in conference play while ULM improves to 9-14 overall and 6-9 in conference play.
Augustine Rubit was the only Jaguar in double digits scoring with 14, which was enough to move him into second place in the school’s All-Time scoring list with 1,868 points and into ninth place in Sun Belt history.
All five of ULM’s starters scored in double-digits. Jayon James had a game high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Chinedu Amajoyi added 12 points and eight rebounds, Nick Coppola added 11 points and six assists and Tylor Ongwae and Marvin Williams both scored 10 points each.
“I really wanted see how we would come out and perform because we knew this was a game we needed to compete and win if we wanted to continue our season in the conference tournament,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “I thought we started off OK, not great, but we were in the game. We got down 10 in the first half and I thought our team showed a lot of resolve and came back and tied the game. But in the last four minutes we had three turnovers that got them in a rhythm.”
“At the start of the second half I was really disappointed in how we came out of the locker room,” Graves continued. “We missed a loose ball, got scored on in the post and it really snowballed from there. In this game, you’ve got to be strong and physical and have to want contact. They were the more physical, more aggressive team, and nine times out of 10 when that happens, you’re not going to come out on the side you want.”
The Jags play their final road game of the season on Sunday at Louisiana-Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 3pm and in addition to the normal WNSP broadcast, it will also be available on the Sun Belt Network so check your local listings for availability.
USA Men’s Basketball Face ULM Tonight
South Alabama kicks off their final road swing of the regular season this evening against Louisiana-Monroe. The Jags used a hot first half against Troy to earn a much needed win 86-78 in their last game on Saturday.
The Jags are one game behind Troy and Texas State, who are both at 4-10 and tied for the eighth and final spot into the Sun Belt Conference Championship with four games left in the regular season.
ULM enters the game with an 8-14 record overall and a 5-9 record in conference play. The Jags lost to the Warhawks on January 18th at the Mitchell Center 64-58.
The two teams rank near each other in the Sagarin rankings. The Jags are ranked 241st while the Warhawks are ranked 232nd. The game can be heard on 105.5 FM WNSP or WNSP.com starting around 6:30pm with the pregame show and tipoff at 7pm.
USA Women’s Basketball Falls To ULM
The Lady Jaguar basketball team fell to Louisiana-Monroe on the road Wednesday night. Breanna Hall hit five three-pointers en route to a career-high 26 point night, but ULM’s 26-of-33 from the charity stripe, including 6-of-8 in the final minute, was enough to down the Jaguars 76-70.
The Jags fall to 7-18 on the season and 5-10 in Conference play. They have also fallen out of the eighth and final spot in the Conference Tournament by one game.
The Jags will play Louisiana-Lafayette on Sunday in a 5:30pm tip-off that will be aired on the Sun Belt Network.
Baseball And Softball Games Cancelled Yesterday
Both the Softball and Baseball games that were scheduled for Wednesday were cancelled.
The Softball teams trip to Thibadaux was cancelled due to heavy rain in the area and the rescheduled date has not yet been determined. Though they will face each other this weekend in Gulfport for the Gulf Coast Softball Classic.
The baseball team’s game against Jacksonville State was also cancelled due to unplayable conditions at Eddie Stanky Field. Rain that pass through overnight Tuesday night continued into Wednesday morning forcing the cancellation.
No makeup date has been announced yet. The Jags will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a three-game weekend series against the #24 Razorbacks.