Lady Jags Fall to Crimson Tide in Women’s National Invitational

The Southern University Lady Jaguars (17-14) traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to face off against the Alabama Crimson Tide (18-13) in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
After trailing 15-8 in the first quarter and forcing four Alabama turnovers, the Lady Jags made a pair of three pointers to cut the lead to 15-14.
Following the timeout by Alabama, the Tide went on a 6-0 run as they extended their lead to 21-15.
Though the Lady Jags were able to hit a couple of threes and knocked down a last-second buzzer beater, the y trailed 33-30 while shooting 32.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line while the Crimson Tide shot 46.2 percent from the field, but were only able to knock down one three pointer of ten attempts.
The Lady Jaguar defense forced 9 turnovers at halftime while the Tide only forced 2 turnovers.
Going into the half, sophomore guard, Jaden Towner led the team in scoring with 12 points, all of which were beyond the arc. Freshman, guard Alyric Scott, was right behind Towner with 8 points on 75 percent shooting, including two 3-pointers.
The Lady Jags began the second half slowly as they allowed the Tide to go on a 7-0 run.
But the Lady Jags came right back as they scored 6 unanswered points to cut the lead to 4. As the Lady Jaguars began to struggle offensively, the Crimson Tide started hitting from all cylinders, as they went on an 11-0 run.
Now down 15, the Lady Jaguars went on a 6-0 to close the third. After shooting 50 percent from the three-point line in the first half, the Lady Jaguars shot 2-7 from the arc as they trail the Crimson Tide, 51-42.
In the beginning of the 4th, the Lady Jags quickly cut the lead to 6.
Down the stretch, the Crimson Tide was able to draw a couple of fouls in order to increase their lead back to 10.
The Lady Jaguars have struggled to get themselves back into the ball game as they traded baskets for most of the fourth quarter.
Due to the crucial 11-0 run from the Tide in the middle of the third, the Lady Jaguars end their triumphant season in a 69-56 defeat.
Most of the production came off the bench as Jaden Towner led the team in scoring with 16 points and Alyric Scott followed with 15 points.
A notable stat was that the Lady Jaguars were outrebounded 50-26.
In response to the Jags being outrebounded, Head Coach, Sandy Pugh, replied, “Well they are so much bigger than us. I mean they are getting it up top, you know when it first comes off the rim, and we’re waiting for it to come down, being undersized. I expected them to outrebound us.”
Sophomore guard, Jaden Towner, posted 16 points along with 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and knocked down 5 of 9 three pointers. “Well, I just knew that no matter what, I just had to play hard. That’s just what I did, and it just happened to be my night,” Towner stated in regards to her stand out performance.
The Lady Jags ended their season being regular season champions, along with the SWAC Defensive Player of the Year in senior forward Briana Green, and also with the SWAC Coach of the Year, Coach Sandy Pugh.
Next season they will look to repeat as champions.