MOBILE, Ala. — The South Alabama women will not play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament this season after Texas State rallied for a 64-60 win over the Lady Jaguars on Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center.
The Bobcats put together a 14-0 run midway through the second half to retake the lead and held on the rest of the way.
Turnovers Offset Inside Edge
South Alabama outscored Texas State 30-18 in the paint, but the Lady Jaguars committed 20 turnovers, and the Bobcats turned those miscues into 20 points.
Senior Jennifer Johnson led South Alabama with 17 points, one shy of her career high. Breanna Hall added 15 points, her 11th double-figure scoring game in the team’s last 13 outings.
The loss was South Alabama’s eighth straight and dropped the Lady Jaguars to 7-20 overall and 5-12 in Sun Belt play. The skid began Feb. 6 at Troy, where starting point guard Brittany Webb suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Fowler: ‘Our Kids Are Really Hurting’
Head coach Terry Fowler said his team had been competitive for most of each game during the stretch that decided its postseason fate.
“I’m very disappointed, and our kids are really hurting,” Fowler said. “We basically had four opportunities with the two games last week and tonight, and I thought we played well enough for 30-33 minutes to win them. Unfortunately it’s a 40-minute ball game.”
Fowler said the message in the locker room turned quickly to the regular-season finale.
“We told (the team) in the locker room we know that we’re not going to the conference tournament, but Saturday night is Senior Night, and that’s special night,” Fowler said. “We play for our seniors, so let’s send them out on a high note. I haven’t lost on Senior Night in the last seven years, and the challenge is to play for our seniors.”
Senior Night Saturday
South Alabama closes its season Saturday night at the Mitchell Center against Texas-Arlington. Four seniors will be honored before the game: Meghan Dunn, Jennifer Johnson, Olivia Mohler and Ronneka Robertson.
The top eight teams in the Sun Belt standings qualify for the conference tournament in New Orleans.
