NEW ORLEANS ? South Alabama freshman guard Brittney Rutledge hit a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left to help the Lady Jaguars escape with a 68-65 overtime win at New Orleans on Saturday.
Rutledge came off the bench with 17 points and was 7-of-9 from the field as USA (12-4, 3-2 Sun Belt Conference) won its ninth straight against UNO (9-7, 3-2).
The Lady Jaguars, who put four scorers in double figures, had 39 bench points.
The effort spoiled a double-double from UNO junior forward Talishia Young. The Metairie, La., product had a game-high 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Brittany Helm added 15 points, while Candice McGee had 14 ? including a putback with two seconds left in regulation that tied the game at 58-58 and sent it to overtime.
The Lady Jaguars took advantage of 10 3-pointers overall. Jessica Starling went 5-of-10 beyond the arc and finished with 17 points.
South Alabama scored the first five points of overtime thanks to a Rutledge layup and a Starling trey. But UNO came back with a 3-point play from Cookie Johnson and a McGee layup with 1:58 remaining.
Johnson then gave UNO the lead with 1:13 to play with a jumper before Rutledge got a friendly roll on a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
The Lady Privateers tried to regain the lead, but McGee missed a jumper. UNO looked for a defensive stop in the late seconds, but Nettles cinched it with a jumper as the shot clock expired.
UNO shot 34 percent from the field but stayed in it thanks to a 49-44 rebounding edge (15-7 offensive).
South Alabama used a 12-0 run to take a 29-15 lead with 5:45 remaining in the first half. The Lady Jaguars hit three 3-pointers during the spurt, while UNO went 0-for-12 from the field.
UNO, though, closed out the half with a 13-3 run to close the deficit to 32-28 at halftime. The Lady Jaguars went 6-of-14 from 3-point range during the half, while UNO shot just 35 percent from the field.
The Lady Privateers were looking for their first win against South Alabama since Jan. 4, 2003.
UNO will travel to North Texas at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
