BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – For three days straight, before the tip off coach Sandy Pugh considered deeply whether to start forward Krystal Huggins.
The decision proved rewarding.
Huggins and Southern’s bench players helped the No. 2 seed Jaguars defeat No. 7 seed Grambling 84-76 in Southwestern Athletic Conference quarterfinal action.
The bench poured in 30 points.
“I told them at the end of the game, they were the difference. If I were to give a game ball it would go to the bench,” Pugh said.
Huggins finished with eight points and four assists.
She scored off 10-foot jumpers, powered strong passes to teammates and pulled down six rebounds at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Arena (BJCC). Pugh knows Huggins as a scrappy clean up player.
Though her numbers may not be record shattering Huggins managed to go into Southern’s game against Texas Southern and make two free throws with 11.9 seconds during the Jaguars’ 75-69 overtime win against Texas Southern for a share of the SWAC title with Jackson State. It was Huggins’ keen free throw shooting that helped get the Southern back into action.
The Jags’ main scorers guard and two-time SWAC player of the year Rolanda Monroe and center Fredrieka Lewis had to sit out due to early foul trouble.
So along with Huggins, freshman Ashton Jones stepped up and added six points while freshman Deshundra Antoine finished with seven points. Southerns bench dominated the first half going into halftime up 47-30.
“Tough loss,” Grambling coach David “Rusty” Ponton said. “I think our young ladies came out ready to play, we dug ourselves a deep hole against a good team. I think Coach Pugh did a real good job of mixing up players in the first half, keeping people in places, putting them in positions where they weren’t afraid to play because she was keeping them in and out.”
Ponton said Jones was a huge force for them.
“Those six points from her (Jones) was huge the first half,” Ponton said. “And not just the points but the way she got in and she blocked, she got in the way and disrupted things for us and she got a couple of rebounds so all of those things add up.”
The drawback for the Tigers ended in free throw shooting and missed lay ups Ponton said.
“We’re not going to beat a good team missing 18 free throws,” he added.
The Tigers made 20-of-38 shots at the free throw line.
Senior guard Juleen Smith, named to the SWAC first team scored the game high 28 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
“It’s a hard fought game,” Pugh said. “We made some errors down the stretch in terms of handling the ball. But the bottom line is, the kids wanted it and they had that fire in their eyes from the tip.”
Monroe came back to score 25 points in 24 minutes of playing time. “Rolanda was speed shooting, I see,” Pugh said.
Lewis finished with 11 points, and Ciara Shiggs recorded 12 points.
Monroe scored 6-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-6 three point field goals and shot 10-of-14 at the free throw line.
Southern will look to press on towards the SWAC finals when they face No. 6 seed Alabama A&M at 10 a.m. Friday in the BJCC Arena. The Lady Bulldogs pulled off the lone upset of the day with a 64-59 win over No. 3 seed Mississippi Valley in overtime Wednesday.
