South Alabama women’s basketball advanced to the fourth round of the Sun Belt Tournament after defeating Texas State 69-59 on Thursday at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida. The Jaguars, who now hold a 15-17 overall record and a 5-13 conference mark, will next face Marshall on Friday at 11:30 a.m. CST.
The game opened with Chrysta Narcisse scoring a fastbreak jumper for South Alabama, followed by Tamara Ortiz assisting Diawna Carter-Hartley for her first three-pointer. The Jaguars established early momentum with a 12-2 run but ended the first quarter leading just 18-15 after Texas State responded.
Both teams struggled offensively in the second quarter. South Alabama was outscored 14-6 and trailed 29-24 at halftime.
In the third quarter, South Alabama outperformed Texas State with a decisive 21-4 run in the first nine minutes, aided by turnovers from the Bobcats and a scoring drought on their side. Freshman Jeriyah Baines contributed significantly during this stretch, despite not having played since December.
Texas State attempted to rally in the fourth quarter with an 11-point run but could not close the gap as South Alabama secured points through free throws from Tamara Ortiz and additional baskets from Baines and Alicia Spann.
Notably, South Alabama played without its top three scorers: Amyah Sutton, Cordasia Harris, and Daniela Gonzalez. Despite this, Ortiz set career-highs with 22 points and four steals while shooting perfectly from the free throw line (6-for-6). Baines also achieved personal bests in points (12), field goals made (5), and three-pointers (2). The team shot over 94% from the free throw line and is averaging more than 42% on three-pointers during tournament play. Ronaltha Marc recorded six assists, marking another career high.
Head Coach Yolisha Jackson commented on her team’s approach: “Everybody has the phrase ‘next player up.’ When you are put in that position, and your young women have a chance to put that on display, and they own it, you get a really proud and special feeling as a coach.”
Jackson also encouraged fans to attend Friday’s game: “We’re an hour down the road. Let’s get out and support. It was great to see more fans in the stands who had on red, white and blue, but now you get to see both the [men’s and women’s] teams play on the same day. These young women have worked incredibly hard to get to day four. Jag Nation – show up, be loud and be ready to go.”
Guard Tamara Ortiz spoke about team unity: “This team has a lot of love for each other, so we know that we had to bring it home…We went out there and played hard, and even when adversity hit, we still kept composure and kept going.”
South Alabama will face Marshall for only their second meeting this season; they lost their previous matchup against Marshall earlier this year by nine points. A win would send them into their first fourth-round victory since March 2019.
Fans can watch Friday’s game via ESPN+ or follow live stats through StatBroadcast. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
