Redshirt sophomore guard Tamara Ortiz and the South Alabama Jaguars (15-17, 5-13 SBC) ended the Bobcats (11-19, 7-11 SBC) season with a 69-59 upset at the Sun Belt Conference Championship March 5 at Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, FL.
The Jaguars, seeded 12, defeated the No. 13 seed App. State and No. 9 Coastal Carolina in the first two rounds of the conference tournament to face the Bobcats Thursday afternoon.
In the opening quarter the Bobcats and Jaguars remained tight in scoring with Ortiz contributing seven points to the scoreboard for the Jaguars.
Freshman forward Kaliyah Murphy made a layup in the opening minute of the second quarter to close in on the Jaguars, making it a one point game 18-17. For four minutes after, neither team was able to find the net.
With 5:20 remaining sophomore forward Kyra Anderson was fouled by sophomore forward Princess Okafor Nweze and headed to the free throw line to take the Bobcats to a 19-18 lead.
Redshirt sophomore guard Chrysta Narcisse answered with a jump shot to tally the first points for the Jaguars in the second quarter.
The Jaguars were able to score four more points in the final four minutes, but it wasn’t enough to hold the lead. Going into the half the Bobcats led 29-24 after holding the Jaguars to six points for the second quarter.
The Jaguars went on an eight point scoring run to open the third quarter, with Ortiz obtaining six of those points.
Ortiz and freshman forward Jeriyah Baines remained fired up throughout the quarter to take the Jaguars to their highest scoring quarter of the day. The Jaguars scored 25 points in the third with nine from Ortiz and five from Baines.
The Bobcats were quick to comeback, scoring 15 points to the Jaguars six in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. After a two minute scoring drought junior forward Diawna Carter-Hartley made one of two free throws. Baines followed this with a three-pointer to extend the Jaguars lead.
To close in on the Jaguars, graduate student guard Deja Jones made her second three-pointer of the quarter. With under a minute remaining Ortiz was sent to the free throw line on three separate occasions, adding six to the scoreboard.
Despite outscoring the Jaguars 22-20 in the fourth with their highest scoring quarter of the game, the Bobcats were unable to take the win.
Three Bobcats had double-digit scorers, with Anderson earning another double-double this season. Anderson made 12 points and pulled in a game leading 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard KP Parr had six assists and a team leading 15 points. Sophomore guard Saniya Burks had 11 points for the afternoon.
Ortiz led the Jaguars with 22 points and four steals for the afternoon. Carter-Hartley made 11 points and obtained seven rebounds. From the bench Baines made 12 points.
The loss marks the end of the Bobcats season. The Jaguars will move on to face the No. 5 seed, Marshall, in the fourth round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
