Women's Basketball

No. 5 South Alabama Hits 13 Triples in 80-54 Win

NEW ORLEANS - Fifth-seeded South Alabama wasted no time in dispatching 12th-seeded ULM on Tuesday in the first round of the 2018 Sun Belt Women's Basketball Championship at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.

The Jaguars jumped out to a 21-2 lead and never looked back as they won handily, 80-54, behind 13 made three-pointers. The 13 triples made tied a Sun Belt tournament record set back in 2003.

Antoinette Lewis led the Jaguars with 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting and five rebounds. All-Sun Belt First Team selection, Chyna Ellis scored 14 in only 17 minutes of action. USA shot a combined 50.8% from the field and 52% from beyond the arc.

The win gives the Jags 19 on the year as they improved to 19-11. USA will face Troy on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. CT.

The loss drops ULM to 4-26 on the season. Gabriella Cortez and Arsula Clark were the only two players in double figures for the Warhawks. Cortez finished with a team-high 15 and Clark added 13.

ULM Notes

  • South Alabama led by as much as 33 in the third quarter, but ULM narrowed the gap in the second half, outscoring the Jags 17-15 in the final quarter..
  • Freshman Arsula Clark topped her season point and rebounding averages with 13 points and seven rebounds while she also handed out three assists and had three steals.
  • ULM started the game off slow, shooting 20 percent in the opening period, but improved each quarter, shooting 36.8 percent in the second quarter, an even 40 percent in the third and 42.9 percent in the fourth.

South Alabama Notes

  • Freshman Antoinette Lewis only missed one of her 10 shots, finishing the game with 20 points. She also grabbed five rebounds, had two steals,  one block and dished out three assists.
  • Freshman Savannah Jones scored 15 points while hitting 4-5 of her three-point attempts.
  • South Alabama had four players score in double digits getting 20 points from Lewis, 15 from Jones, 14 from Chyna Ellis and 11 from Shaforia Kines.
  • South Alabama shot above 50 percent in field goals (50.8), three-point field goals (52.0), and free throws (58.3).

Quotes

South Alabama Head Coach Terry Fowler
Opening Statement:
“First of all, I just thought we really came out and had a fast start, and that was crucial for us.  We shot the ball really well, and I think that’s important for us.  Our team really feeds off of us being able to shoot the basketball, and then we just create energy from there and we’re able to play good defense.  I was really pleased with the fact that we had 30 made field goals and 21 assists, which means we’re really sharing the basketball.  We also out-rebounded them, and we are 14-0 when we out-rebound our opponent, so that’s a crucial stat for us. 

Did you outscore them in the first quarter because you had better looks at the basket, or were you just shooting it well?

“Yeah, we were shooting it well, but I thought we got the ball inside, and that was the big key, and then from there we just played inside-out.  I thought we did a great job of contesting their shots, and made it difficult for them.  I don’t think they got open looks in that first quarter.”

ULM Head Coach Jeff Dow
Opening Statement:
“Obviously disappointing.  We’ve seen this trend too many times this year…a lot of times this year. To our kids’ credit, they are certainly a lot of young kids.  We got off to a relatively good start, first quarter.  First half we stay engaged and competitive, and clearly South Alabama the way they were knocking down threes the way they were in the first quarter, we got our lip-bloodied and never really recovered from that.  I know with three freshman starters, a lot of young kids in the rotation for us, it was certainly a learning experience.  I’ve been impressed with South Alabama all season long, clearly when you have five seniors in your rotation who play big minutes.  I think they are going to be a force in this tournament and can do a lot of damage.  They are a tough team.  They are very solid defensively, second in the league to only Little Rock.  They have a nice balance of inside and outside.  Chyna Ellis and Antoinette Lewis inside and the parameter game of Savannah Jones, it’s a tough matchup for anyone.  I certainly anticipate them getting deep in the conference tournament.”

On the impact of the first quarter:
“I thought one of the things we have struggled with on the offensive end is, don’t freeze the ball, meaning you have about a second, a second and a half at the most, to make a decision.  Are you going to rise up and shoot it, are you going to drive it, or are you quickly get rid of it and pass it?  Sometimes when we freeze the ball, the offense gets stagnate and it allows the defense to load up to the ball.  This makes it a little easier to help on drives, and I thought we spent a lot of time in the last couple of months trying to practice for the fact that it is a thirty second shot clock.  Sometimes we panic and take two’s and three’s when there is 10, 12 seconds on the shot clock and we can get something better.  Some of our late shot clock possessions we had found a way to get the ball in the hands of Arsula Clark.  We didn’t see enough of that in the first quarter. ”

On freshmen in the second half:

“I did think we had a little more energy.  It was 36-31 in the second half.  In the fourth quarter I appreciated the kids who didn’t let the game get sloppy.  They stayed within themselves.  Arsula Clark got off to a rough start and started getting it going in the second half.  She is our leading rebounder.  Diamond Brooks had an uneven performance.  She did get six rebounds.  I’d like to see her become Antoinette Lewis of South Alabama.  Whitney Goins knocked down a couple of 3’s today and did a good job in our offense. ”