Lady Jaguars defeat Alabama A&M despite 31 turnovers

Southern’s women’s basketball team turned the ball over 31 times in its 50-36 win over Alabama A&M Saturday night at the F.G. Clark Activity Center, but still found a way to win.
Despite the turnovers Southern (6-10, 4-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference) never trailed and only had the game tied once in the first half.
Plus, SU still outscored A&M 16-19 on points off turnovers.
“Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers,” said SU coach Sandy Pugh. “I thought we did a good job defensively but had some miscues down the back stretch with freshmen understanding where they needed to be and the intensity they needed to play with.”
“It’s a learning curve,” Pugh said. “Our players didn’t understand how to beat the jump trap they were doing in the half court.”
Ten of those turnovers came freshman point guard Deidra Jackson, who had 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Freshman forward Courtney Scott, in her first start since Dec. 13, had 10 points and scored in double figures for the second game consecutive game. Freshman forward Freda Allen had 10 rebounds, eight points and three steals, and senior center Fredrieka Lewis came off the bench with nine points, eight rebounds, five blocks and three steals.
A&M (6-9, 4-2) entered with four-game winning streak during which the Lady Bulldogs averaged 74.5 points per game.
“Don’t let our record fool you,” Pugh said. “We still haven’t played at the level we’re capable of playing.”
“Southern did a great job of pressuring us,” said A&M coach Altherias Warmley. “We never really could get into an offensive rhythm, then they battled hard on the boards.”
“We didn’t take care of the ball, didn’t rebound and didn’t knock down shots. With that combination, it’s tough to win a ballgame.”
SU out rebounded A&M 41-27 and came up with a season-high 18 steals.
Southern’s defense forced 14 turnovers – and 1 for 15 (6.7 percent) shooting – in the first 13 minutes as the Jaguars took a 19-3 lead, and after A&M closed to within 38-30 on Barnes’ jumper with 8:57 left, SU dug in on defense again, forcing 11 turnovers and holding A&M to 4 for 10 shooting.
“Fortunately we built up a comfortable lead and were able to hit some shots on the back stretch once we penetrated the zone because we really struggled,” Pugh said.
Southern was (2-5) in SWAC play to this point last season (eventually finishing 5-13).
With the victory Southern is on a two game winning streak and catching fire at the right time as they embark on the second game of its three game home stand (the longest of the season). SU hosts Alabama State at 5 p.m. Monday night at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
LAGNIAPPE
SU dominated points in the paint outscoring A&M 20-12. The Jaguars also outscored the Bulldogs in bench points 22-13 despite turning the ball over 31 times.
“This was a sloppy game,” Pugh said. “We had 17 turnovers at the half and 31 total, we have to start taking care of the ball.”