December 19, 2006

Mobile, AL (CSTV U-WIRE) -- The South Alabama Lady Jaguars lost to the Florida Gators 62-50 on Friday night at the Mitchell Center. It was the third loss in a row for USA, which fell to 3-4 overall, while the Gators improved to 4-4.

The Lady Jaguars led for most of the first half and were only down two points at halftime, but USA was unable to recover from a 14-0 run by Florida at the start of the second half.

After the Florida run, the Lady Jags never got within seven points of the Gators' lead.

Monique Jones was the only Jaguar in double figures with 10 points. Sha Brooks of Florida led all scorers with 17 points, 14 of which were in the second half.

South Alabama got off to an early 7-2 lead behind a jumper from Patriece Brunner and a layup and 3-pointer by Jones. The Lady Jaguars had their biggest lead of the game at the 14:11 mark after Jones hit another 3-pointer, making the score 14-8. USA maintained the lead until about halfway through the first half when Brittaney Thomas of Florida hit a jump shot to tie the game at 14. The game was close the next 10 minutes, as there were five lead changes and neither team led by more than three.

The Gators took the lead on a layup by Brooks with 23 seconds left in the half and Florida never trailed after that.

"The difference was the first five minutes of the second half. [That?s when] the game was lost," said USA coach Rick Pietri. "We let them take it from us, literally, right at the end of the first half. We didn't fight back very well."

Florida shot 35 percent from the field and South Alabama shot 27.5 percent. The Lady Jaguars only made four of 28 3-pointers taken.

"We got in a situation where, rather than go to the goal because of the scrambling zone (defense), we were wide open and we just didn't make anything," Pietri said. "If you're wide open, you gotta make something.

"We defended well enough to stay within range but you gotta make some shots; you gotta put some points on the board to make up the difference. We probably settled for too many on the perimeter. ? We had 19 offensive rebounds, we had a lot of second opportunities and we didn't finish those either."

South Alabama grabbed 46 rebounds to Florida's 51. The Lady Jags were outrebounded 28 to 19 in the first half though. USA was led in rebounds by Shakira Nettles and Cortney Brown, who both had eight. The Lady Jaguars and Gators both committed 15 turnovers.

South Alabama will look to get back on a winning path as they take on Southern Illinois on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Mitchell Center. USA begins conference play on Dec. 14 against Middle Tennessee at the Mitchell Center.

(C) 2006 The Vanguard via CSTV U-WIRE