South Alabama’s women’s basketball team advanced in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament after defeating Coastal Carolina 80-70 on Wednesday in Pensacola, Florida. The Jaguars will next face Texas State in the tournament’s third round at 11:30 a.m. CST on Thursday at the Pensacola Bay Center.
The game opened with both teams shooting well from three-point range. South Alabama hit four of its six first-quarter field goals from beyond the arc, with Chrysta Narcisse and Amyah Sutton each contributing. Narcisse accounted for four of the team’s field goals in that period.
Despite making three straight three-pointers to start the second quarter, South Alabama faced an eight-point run by Coastal Carolina that put them behind by five points. As the half continued, neither team built a lead larger than five points, but South Alabama maintained strong outside shooting, finishing the half with a 57.1% three-point percentage and leading 39-34.
In the third quarter, South Alabama added another four three-pointers for a total of 12 in the game. Diawna Carter-Hartley scored ten points and helped give her team a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Narcisse led South Alabama again in the final period, scoring eight of her team’s 23 points. More than half of those points came from free throws as South Alabama outscored Coastal Carolina 23-19 to secure their fifth consecutive win—the program’s longest streak since 2018-19.
The Jaguars’ victory marked their first second-round win in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament since March 2020 and was their first win this season against an opponent scoring at least 70 points. Their twelve made three-pointers were also their highest total since January.
Chrysta Narcisse set a career high with 24 points and tied her personal bests for field goals (seven) and three-pointers (four). In this tournament, South Alabama is averaging over 41% from beyond the arc and has now reached fourteen wins this season, their most since 2019-20.
Head Coach Yolisha Jackson said: “I’m proud of our kids for trying to execute the game plan as much as possible and being willing and able to make adjustments. And then, down through the stretch, being really focused on the task at hand, just coming back to a focal point. The exciting thing is that we get to play tomorrow. I’m extremely happy that this group and their season gets to roll on.”
Guard Chrysta Narcisse commented: “Every day we get to go out and play another game. Right now it’s win or go home, and we don’t want to go home. It was fun to go out there and compete for as long as possible.”
South Alabama will meet Texas State for their third matchup this season; they split previous games one apiece with South Alabama winning most recently on February 21 by a score of 64-59. If victorious Thursday, it would be their first third-round tournament win since March 2019 when they went on to play for the conference championship.
Thursday’s game will be available via ESPN+ streaming and live statistics through StatBroadcast; tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Additional updates can be found on official South Alabama Athletics channels as well as social media platforms including X (@SouthAlabamaWBB), Facebook (/SouthAlabamaAthletics), and Instagram (@SouthAlabamaWBB).
