South Alabama women’s basketball secured a 76-69 victory over Troy on Friday at the Mitchell Center, marking their first win against the Trojans since the 2022-23 season. The game was the regular-season finale for both teams.
The match started evenly before Troy gained a brief lead. South Alabama responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by two layups from Cordasia Harris. In the final seconds of the first quarter, Harris blocked a jumper from Zay Dyer, helping South Alabama end the quarter ahead 25-18—its highest-scoring opening period since facing Georgia State in January.
Troy began the second quarter strongly, but South Alabama matched their intensity and maintained momentum after a three-pointer from Harris. Daniela Gonzalez added another three-pointer late in the half to extend the Jaguars’ lead to nine points. The team entered halftime leading 43-35.
The third quarter featured significant runs by both sides. Troy’s Fortuna Ngnawo led her team to an 11-0 stretch before South Alabama answered with nine consecutive points of their own. Despite a late push by Troy, South Alabama limited them to just 16.7% shooting from the field and 25.8% from beyond the arc, sealing a seven-point win.
Statistically, Troy came into Mobile as national leaders in total rebounds and defensive rebounds per game but were held below their averages by South Alabama—44 total rebounds and 24 defensive boards compared to season averages of nearly 51 and over 32 per game, respectively.
The Jaguars improved their record against Troy to 26-39 overall and now hold a three-game conference win streak, matching their best stretch since early February of the 2020-21 season.
Individually, Diawna Carter-Hartley set a career-high with five assists, surpassing her previous best of four earlier this month against Louisiana. Cordasia Harris finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds for her twelfth double-double of the year. Tamara Ortiz contributed 18 points without committing any turnovers.
With this result, South Alabama eliminated Troy from contention for the Sun Belt regular-season championship; Troy is now one win behind Georgia Southern in league standings.
Yolisha Jackson, Head Coach of South Alabama women’s basketball, said: “An incredible effort by not only the kids who touched the floor, but every kid in our program. January was really hard, but these kids showed up every day and got better. Our practice habits got better, and it all came together on Senior Night for Daniela Gonzalez, Cordasia Harris, Ronaltha Marc and Alicia Spann. It’s huge to be able to knock off the number one team in the conference.”
For more information about South Alabama women’s basketball visit usajaguars.com or follow @SouthAlabamaWBB on X (formerly Twitter), /SouthAlabamaAthletics on Facebook or @SouthAlabamaWBB on Instagram.
