Women’s Basketball Falls To ASU; Men Play Tonight
USA Women’s Basketball fell to Arkansas State 71-58 on Wednesday as a result of a limited roster and an overabundance of turnovers.
The Jags were 20-for-42 from the floor, but committed 26 turnovers in the loss. The Jags fall to 7-14 on the season and 5-6 in Conference play. ASU improves to 16-8 overall and 10-2 in the Conference.
They will return to action for a two-game road swing beginning on Saturday against Western Kentucky, which will be the Jaguars and Hilltoppers final regular season game against each other as Sun Belt Conference members.
Tonight the Men’s team hosts Arkansas State.
Robby Brown Set To Join Football Staff
Robby Brown, former assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Valdosta State is reportedly joining the USA Football staff as running backs coach. | Photo by Gary Hardamon – NSU Photographic Services nsudemons.com
According to the Shreveport Times, former Northwestern State offensive coordinator Robby Brown has tendered his resignation to join head coach Joey Jones’ staff as the running backs coach. If he is indeed going to be the running backs coach, this would signal another shift in responsibilities on the staff. But that will only be known for certain when the hire is officially announced.
Brown has an impressive resume.
Last season, NSU ranked 43rd in passing offense (234.6 yards per game) and 55th in total offense (390.4 yards per game) while setting a number of offensive records.
Previously he coached at Valdosta State who won the NCAA Division II national championship in 2012. As offensive coordinator, his offense averaged 469 yards and 40 points per game.
He also served as offensive coordinator at Henderson State in 2008 and Southwest Baptist in 2007 prior to joining Valdosta State from 2009-2012.
At Valdosta State, the offense ranked 13th nationally in total offense and 9th nationally in scoring in 2012. His offense led the Gulf South Conference in all major offensive statistics and his quarterback earned Division II All-Region honors.
His offense in 2010 ranked 25th nationally in total offense with 418 yards per game and 12th in passing with 286 yards per game while one of his receivers set the GSC career receptions reocrd.
His records continue to mount. In 2007 at Southwest Baptist, Brown’s players set 29 school records, six Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association marks and two national records. Flanker Nick Smart broke the NCAA All-Divisions record with 143 receptions and was an All-American.
In 2008 at Henderson State, his offense ranked third in Division II in passing with 330 yards per game and 18th in total offense with 448 yards per game. They set 12 school records including points per game (32.8) and yards per game. He had an All-American and two All-GSC selections including a receiver who ranked second nationally with 121 yards per game. Meanwhile his quarterbacks ranked sixth nationally in passing yards per game with 321.
He played quarterback at Georgia Tech under coach Chan Gailey as the Yellow Jackets won the 2002 Humanitarian Bowl and the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl as he played in the final series both years. He previously played at Georgia Military College and was a standout at Union County High in Blairsville, Georgia where he was a four-year letterwinner and was the team MVP and captain. He also played baseball and basketball and attended Hargrove Military Academy for one year.
He began his coaching career in 2005 at Troy under head coach Larry Blakeney. In 2006 offensive coordinator Tony Franklin and Neal Brown joined the staff and helped the Trojans win the 2006 Sun Belt Conference championship and a huge offensive performance during the season.
Brown, 33, is a 1999 graduate of Union County High and earned a bachelor of history, technology and society from Georgia Tech in 2004 and a master’s degree in sports and fitness management from Troy in 2007.
USA Softball Move Up In Polls
After going 5-0 in the 2014 Mardi Gras Invitational and defeating the then #21 ranked UAB Blazer, the South Alabama softball team has moved up in both polls that were released on Tuesday.
USA moved up from #20 to #18 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll and also moved up from #22 to #19 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll.
South Alabama is now the highest ranked team from the Sun Belt Conference after Louisiana-Lafayette fell from #13 to #20 in the USA Today Poll and from #15 to #20 in the ESPN.com poll.
UAB fell out of the of the poll after falling 8-0 to South Alabama in the opening game of the tournament and finished 1-3 for the weekend. The University of Alabama up to #4 from #6 in the USA Today poll and remained #6 in the ESPN.com poll to continue to be the highest ranked school from the state of Alabama in the latest polls.
The Jaguars travel to Athens, Georgia this weekend for the Bulldog Invitational. They will begin play at 9am on Friday against Ohio University then again at 11:30am against Mercer. On Saturday they will play Furman at 8am and Georgia at 1pm. Sunday they will play Georgia once more at 1pm.
Georgia is ranked #19 in the USA Today Poll, one spot behind the Jaguars, and #17 in the ESPN.com, one spot ahead of the Jaguars.
USA Women’s Basketball Host Arkansas State This Morning
The South Alabama Women’s basketball team will host Sun Belt Conference leader Arkansas State this morning for it’s annual “Pack The House” game. Tip off is scheduled for 11:30am at the Mitchell Center with several elementary students from the local area invited for the game.
The Jags (7-13 overall, 5-5 SBC) fell at Troy almost a week ago on the road. They led early but a slump in play and an injury to starting point guard Brittany Webb gave Troy the opportunity to overtake the Jags and win the game.
Webb suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.
Without Webb, the Jaguar offense committed 27 turnovers and shot only 25.8% in the second half. The time between their last game and this game allowed head coach Terry Fowler and his team to make adjust his lineup to fill the void left by Webb’s injury and to try to hold onto their position and play in the Conference Tournament.
USA Announces Hiring Of Tim Bowens As New Wide Receivers Coach
USA announced the hiring of former Samford University wide receivers coach Tim Bowens as the Jaguars next Wide Receivers coach. | Photo: http://thebowensbunch.blogspot.com
South Alabama head football coach Joey Jones announced that he has filled one of the openings on his staff on Monday.
Tim Bowens was hired to fill the vacant wide receivers position. Bowens spent the last two seasons at Samford where he helped the 2013 team become the first in school history to earn a berth in the NCAA FCS playoffs since 1992.
Samford led the Southern Conference last season in both passing yards per game (292.8) and total yards per game (415.6) while three of his receivers were among the top six in receiving yards per game.
Kelsey Pope caught 68 passes for 789 yards to earn first-team all-conference honors from the conference coaches and the media. He also ended the season as the school’s all-time career record holder with 250 catches. Karel Hamilton was voted first-team Freshman All-American and tot he conference’s All-Freshman team after a 38 reception, 657 yard season with seven touchdowns.
The Bulldogs claimed a share of their first Southern Conference title since joining the league in 2008 and their first top-20 finish in both The Sports Network and coaches’ polls by going 8-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play.
Bowens also coached wide receivers at UAB for five years where he helped Frantrell Forrest become the second place on the Blazers’ All-Time receptions list. Prior to his stint at UAB, he was the receivers coach at Alabama in 2006, the final year in a four year span with the school where he also served in the roles of assistant director of operations and director of high school/NFL relations.
He played wide receiver at Alabama from 1996-1999 and earned a spot on the Academic All-SEC team his senior year. He helped the Crimson Tide to three bowl games and a pair of appearances in the SEC Championship game. They had a pair of 10-win seasons and twice won the SEC West Division title. In his senior season the Crimson Tide defeated Florida in the SEC Championship game and went on to play in the Orange Bowl.
After his playing career, he served as a student assistant on the Tide staff in the spring of 2000, when he earned his degree. The next two seasons he was the offensive coordinator at Coffee (AL) High School before becomign head coach at Tanner (AL) High School. He was named the Limestone County Coach of the Year in 2002.
Bowens is the half brother of South Alabama defensive ends and outside linebackers coach Freddie Roach.
“I’ve known Coach Jones for some time, I’ve known his sons as well, and appreciate the job he has done from the high school to the collegiate level. I’ve been able to follow his career, and was able to visit with him years ago as well,” Bowens said. “I’m looking forward to coaching in a great conference and to being at a university where things are on the rise. And I’m excited about where this program is going. If you look back five, six years ago, you can see the changes that have taken place and how it has taken humongous steps. To be able to come to a program that is really taking off speaks volumes.”
“Tim is as good of a person that I know,” Jones said. “He’s a very experienced guy, having coached at Alabama, UAB and Samford. Everybody I talked to about Tim has the utmost respect for his coaching ability and him as a person. Of course, I’ve known him for years so this was an easy hire for me.”
Jones still has two open positions on his staff to fill. Bryant Vincent, quarterbacks coach, left for an offensive coordinator position at UAB and Kevin Sherrer, defensive backs and defensive coordinator, left for a coaching position at the University of Georgia. Travis Pearson was promoted to defensive coordinator. Coach Jones is currently interviewing for both the quarterbacks and defensive backs coaching positions.
Spring football practice is scheduled to being on Monday, March 10
Farish Beard Named SBC Pitcher of the Week
Junior Farish Beard struck out 29 during the tournament to earn MVP honors and help lead the Jaguars to a 5-0 record to open the 2014 season. | Photo usajaguars.com
South Alabama’s Farish Beard was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday. This is the first weekly award announced by the conference office for Softball this season.
Farish, who has a shutout streak dating back to last season for a total of 46 consecutive innings, also extended another streak with this award. This marks the second season in a row that she has earned the Pitcher of the Week honor for the first week of play.
Beard went 3-0 over the weekend at the 2014 Mardi Gras Invitational played at the newly renovated Jaguar Field. She struck out 29 batters and only allowed three hits in 12 2/3 innings to extend her shutout streak.
She was also named to the All-Tournament team and named the tournaments Most Valuable Player as she helped the Jaguars to get off to their best start in program history with a 5-0 record.
Her season debut was against #21 ranked UAB where she struck out 10 in a mercy-rule shortened 8-0 decision.
She followed up that performance with 13 strikeouts, one short of her career high, against Syracuse. She then pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief against Austin Peay where she worked herself out of a one-out, bases loaded jam. She would finish the day with six strikeouts, no walks and only allowing one hit.
Beard and the Jaguar team travels to Athens Georgia for the Bulldog Invitational where they will face Ohio, Mercer, Furman and the Georgia Bulldog (twice).
Jags Sweep Mardi Gras Invitational
Junior Farish Beard struck out 29 during the tournament to earn MVP honors and help lead the Jaguars to a 5-0 record to open the 2014 season. | Photo usajaguars.com
The South Alabama Jaguar softball team are off to their best start in program history after a clean sweep of the Mardi Gras Invitational at Jaguar Field.
On Thursday night the Jags opened with an 8-0 win over #21 UAB in five innings after the game was called due to the mercy-rule.
On Friday, the Jaguars faced-off against Syracuse. All-American pitcher Hannah Campbell recorded 12 strikeouts as Emily Messer recorded a hit and RBI to lead the Jaguars to a 2-1 win.
After four-and-a-half scoreless innings, Messer scored the first run after she drew a walk, then advanced on Amanda Herron’s sacrifice bunt then scored when Gwen Jones reached base on a throwing error by the Orange.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Kaitlyn Griffith added the other Jaguar run after she drew a walk, advanced to second base on a Chloe Rathburn sacrifice fly then scored on Messer’s infield single.
In the top of the seventh, Syracuse’s Nicole Lundstrom hit a home run in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Jaguar lead in half. Ellie Forkin singled to put the go-ahead run on base but Campbell would force a groundout to end the game.
On Saturday, the Jaguars played two games. The first against McNeese State where they won 4-1. Griffith and Alex Breeden both went 1-for-3 against the Cowgirls, but both hits her homeruns. Griffith smashed a three-run shot in the bottom of the third inning to give the Jaguars a 3-0 lead.
Freshman Holly McKinnon made her debut against McNeese State, she struck out four through the first three innings. In the top of the fifth inning, McKinnon walked back-to-back batters then allowed Lauren Lagner to deliver an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-1.
Jaguar coach Becky Clark inserted Hannah Campbell to toss the final 2 2/3 innings in relief while striking out four, one walk and one hit to earn her first save of the season and 13th of her career.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Breeden added an insurance run with a one-out solo shot to left field.
Later on Saturday, the Jaguars faced Syracuse again after their 2-1 win the day before. The game only lasted an hour as the Jags run-ruled the Orange 8-0 in five innings.
Breeden led off the bottom of the second inning with her second solo home run of the day. Pilkington drove in freshman Amanda Minahan with a double to right center. Blair Johnson made it 4-0 with a two-run home run in left center field.
Gwen Jones was drove in after pinch-running for Clara Bowen to make it 5-0 when Pilkington drove her in with a single to left field. Later Griffith smashed her second home run of the day to drive Johnson home.
Farish Beard struck out 13, one short of her career-high. The first nine outs were strikeouts for Beard and struck out 13 of the 18 batters she faced and extended her consecutive shutout innings streak.
The Jags completed the weekend sweep with a 12-0 mercy-rule win over Austin Peay on Sunday. Kaleigh Floore made her first collegiate start on Sunday.
Seven Jaguar batters recorded hits on Sunday. Alex Breeden opened the scoring with her third home run in as many games with her two-run shot scoring freshman Chloe Rathburn to put the Jaguars up 2-0. Breeden finished the day by going 2-for-3 with four RBi and a run scored.
In the third inning, Rathburn singled with an RBI to drive in Julie Moss on a throwing error. Breeden singled again in the inning to drive in Griffith and Rathburn. Freshman Amanda Minahan would draw a walk which forced in Gwen Jones for another run. Pilkington would drive in a Messer for an RBI on a fielders choice. The final score of the inning would come on Johnson’s groundout to first base to score freshman Taylor Rodgers. The Jags led 8-0 after three innings.
In the fourth inning, Minahan tripled to right center field to drive in Rodgers and Messer. Pilkington would double to right field to score Minahan. Then the final score would come by Johnson’s single to score Pilkington for the final score of 12-0.
Beard would come in to relieve Floore and struck out six batters and extended her shutout streak to 46 innings dating back to last year’s SBC Tournament.
Four Jaguars were named to the All-Tournament team: Farish Beard, Hannah Campbell, catcher Alex Breeden and infielder Kaitlyn Griffith. Farish Beard was named the 2014 Mardi Gras Invitational Most Valuable Player.
The Jaguars will have a few days off before heading to Athens, Georgia for the Bulldog Invitational where they will face Ohio, Mercer, Furman and two games against host Georgia.
Men’s And Women’s Basketball Fall At Troy
Men’s Basketball
South Alabama men’s basketball team tried to rally late at Troy Thursday night but their rally fell short 79-74 as the Trojans end their five-game losing streak.
Troy’s Hunter Williams scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the second half by hitting seven three-pointers.
The Jagaurs late rally was came from Troy’s inability to convert from the free-throw line. They used a 9-3 run to cut into the 12-point deficit but still trailed 78-74 with 22.7 seconds left. They would miss a 3-pointer on its next possession and could not get any closer.
Augustine Rubit scored 25 points, his most since his career-high 35 points on December 14 against Ganzaga. Barrington Stevens III and Ken Williams both added 13 points as Stevens set a new career high with six assists. Williams hit on three 3-pointers as well.
Mychal Ammons came down with eight rebounds while.
“We did a great job on Williams in the first half,” South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves said. “The problem is we have to sustain it for 40 minutes—it’s a 40-minute game—and we’ve had different issues like this during the season where we’ve not been able to put together a complete game. A shooter like Williams, all it takes is one to go in. We didn’t switch a ball-screen and he got a ‘3,’ we didn’t trail a stagger (screen) and he got a ‘3,’ and the two that he got that were ridiculous, those are the ones that go in because he’s feeling comfortable.”
“Unfortunately a good offensive effort was wasted again tonight because we didn’t dig down and guard.”
“When you get hit in the mouth with a punch, you have to get back off the deck and go back at them or you can stand there and keep getting punched,” Graves said. “Unfortunately, too many times we get punched and you run out of time. They were giving us opportunities down the stretch with missed free throws, but by that time you’ve really put yourself in a bind.”
The Jaguars will have a week off before returning to action against Arkansas State at the Mitchell Center on February 13 for a 7:05pm.
Women’s Basketball
The South Alabama Women’s basketball team committed 27 turnovers which led to 29 points by the Trojans as the Lady Jaguars fell 78-53 at Troy.
The Jaguars were led by Breanna Hall with 12 points, three assists and three steals. Meghan Dunn added 11 points for her 14th double-digit game of the season. Ronneka Robertson ended with eight points and 10 rebounds as she fell just short of a double-double.
USA shot only 25.8% in the second half and 35.6% for the whole game from the floor.
Troy’s Joanna Harden, the Sun Belt’s leading scorer, led all players with 30 points as she was 11-of-27 from the field and 4-of-11 from long range.
Brittany Webb was injured during the game and miss the remained of it. “(The loss of Webb) changed our whole rotation,” Jaguar head coach Terry Fowler said. “She’s our primary ball-handler and that changed everything. Meghan Dunn had to play the whole game and guard hard. I thought fatigue and frustration set in for us. Those are two tough things to overcome.”
The Lady Jags fall to 7-13 overall and 5-5 in the Sun Belt.
The Lady Jags will have most of a week off before returning to action against Arkansas State on February 12 at the Mitchell Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 11:30am.
20th Ranked USA Softball Mercy-Rule 21th Ranked UAB 8-0 In 5 Innings
Junior Farish Beard struck out 10 against 21st ranked UAB for the Jaguars first win of 2014. | Photo usajaguars.com
Farish Beard led the #20 ranked South Alabama Jaguar Softball team to a mercy rule win over #21 UAB on Thursday night at the newly renovated Jaguar Field. Beard struck out 10 batters while only allowing one hit to lead the Jaguars to the 8-0 win in five innings.
Beard, a Fairhope, AL native, earned her 10th career double-digit strikeout performance of her career and extended her shutout streak to 38 1/3 innings dating back to the 2013 postseason.
The Jaguars first runs came in the first inning on a Blazer error when Kristen McGrath dropped Kaitlyn Griffith’s fly to the right field wall which allowed Julie Moss to score from second base.
Stephanie Pilkington smashed a two-RBI single through the right side of the UAB defense. Blair Johnson got an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center field to score Amanda Herron to give the Jaguars a 4-0 run after two innings.
In the top of the third, after a strikeout and a forced groundout, two Blazers got on base with a single up the middle and a hit batter. But Beard would strike out the next batter to end the inning.
Freshman Chloe Rathburn would extend the Jaguar led to seven on a three-run homer to center field in only her second collegiate at-bat to score Moss and Griffith.
Beard struck out all three batters she faced in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom half, Pilkington got her third RBI on a triple that scored Gwen Jones to give the Jaguars their 8-0 score.
Beard then struck out her 10th batter before forcing a pop-up to third and fielding a grounder up the middle an throwing out the runner at first to earn the Jaguars first win of 2014.
Beard has not lost a decision in her last 36 appearances.
Jaguar head coach Becky Clark spoke about Beard’s performance by saying, “There’s been a lot of distractions going on – the construction, the hype and that kind of stuff – so I thought for her to give us that kind of outing on day one was huge, especially in the cold tonight.”
USA out hit the Blazers 7-1 on the night. UAB’s Lannah Campbell, the twin sister of Jaguar Hannah Campbell, took the loss for the Blazers by giving up seven runs, six earned, and allowing six hits and a walk.
“I think that was about the best way you could possibly start off a season,” Clark said. “I thought the hitters were phenomenal tonight. They were balanced at the plate and waited on pitches they could drive. I thought [the young players] did a great job. They looked like they’ve been playing for us for years.”
The 2014 Mardi Gras invitational will continue through Sunday at Jaguar Field. The Jaguars will face Syracuse at 5;45 this evening.
20th Ranked Jaguar Softball Team Opens Season Tonight Versus #21 UAB
The University of South Alabama softball team will begin their 2014 season with their annual Mardi Gras Invitational to be held that the newly-renovated Jaguar Field beginning today and going through Sunday.
The #20 ranked Jaguars will host #21 ranked UAB to begin the tournament starting at 6pm today. They will then face Syracuse twice and well as McNeese State and Austin Peay through the weekend.
USA returns seven starters from the 2013 team which set records for the most wins and fewest losses with a 48-9 record. They also won their second consecutive Sun Belt Conference Tournament title and hosted their first-ever NCAA Regional.
Senior Hannah Campbell and junior Farish Beard return to the pitchers circle for the Jaguars. They combined for the nation’s third-best ERA at 1.43. Hannah was named first Jaguar to be named an All-American while Farish went a perfect 23-0 last season.
The Jags welcome six new student-athletes following the exit of graduating seniors Brittany Fowler, Britany Campbell, Meghan Collins and Jessica Dobson as well as filling the position left when Haley Fagan transfered to Auburn after last season.
Jaguar head coach Becky Clark enters her eighth season at USA and ninth overall with the university and has led the program from its inception to its first-ever preseason top-25 ranking.
South Alabama and UAB will get underway at 6pm this evening at Jaguar Field.
Go Jags!