The University of South Alabama women’s basketball team knocked down 11 treys and held Troy to a season-low in points Sunday afternoon as the Lady Jags picked up a 63-26 victory over in-state rival Troy at the Mitchell Center. “I was really pleased with our defensive effort today,” South Alabama head coach Rick Pietri said. “One of the things, as a coach, you’re always scared of is that after getting a big halftime lead, you think your team is just going to relax, but we kept competing, we kept defending. We defended the whole way through, no matter who was out there (on the court). “I didn’t see this gap (in scoring) coming,” Pietri added. “We competed our behinds off at Troy, even getting up to 18, but they brought it back to five with a minute to go. I’m pleased we were able to play as hard as we did throughout. These were the same kids that took Middle Tennessee to overtime. We challenged open shots and got the rebounds. Now we’re 5-4 in the league and we’ve got a huge game here on Wednesday. FAU is really good, so it will be interesting for us.”
With the win, USA snaps a three-game skid and improves to 12-9 on the year and 5-4 in the Sun Belt. The Jaguars will next host Florida Atlantic on Wednesday morning. Tip-off versus the Owls is set for 11:30 a.m. Troy falls to 1-19 overall and 0-9 in the league with its 11th-straight loss. Sarda Peterson was one of three Lady Jags to finish in double figures as she led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-10 from the three-point line. Mansa El also had a solid outing with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including three treys of her own. Led by the play of Peterson and El, South Alabama was 11-for-26 from beyond the three-point line for 42.3 percent shooting. The duo combined for eight of USA’s 11 treys. In two meetings versus the Trojans this season, El and Peterson have combined for 71 points and 16 three-pointers. Junior guard Mary Nixon chipped in with 11 points, while senior forward Taylor Ammons added 11 rebounds. Ammons has now recorded nine rebounds or better in seven of USA’s nine league games, finishing in double figures in four of those contests. Ammons also tied a career-high with three blocks. USA also held a huge advantage on the glass, out rebounding the Trojans 44-27.
