MOBILE, Ala. – Daja Chase captured the first double-double of her career as she led the ULM women's basketball team to a 45-38 victory over South Alabama on Thursday night in the Mitchell Center.
"Great defensive effort by our team tonight,” said head coach Jeff Dow. “In their win on Saturday, South Alabama scored 51 points alone in the second half. We held them to 19 points in each half and 25% or less from the field in each half. It was just an outstanding job of executing the scouting report and shutting down their guards. We also got a big performance from Daja Chase, especially on the offensive boards."
Chase scored 12 points and grabbed 10 boards on the evening. The freshman is just the third Warhawk this season to collect a double-double.
The ULM (11-15, 7-10 SBC) defense stepped up tonight as they held South Alabama (5-11, 2-16 SBC) to just 22.6 percent from the field, 20 percent from beyond the arc, and 50 percent from the charity stripe. This is the fourth contest this season where the Warhawk defense has held the opponent to under 30 percent field goal shooting.
ULM out rebounded their opponent by double-digits for the seventh time this season as they grabbed 50 boards compared to South Alabama's 40.
Sharnice Brooks joined Chase in double figures as the senior garnered 10 points for her 20th double-figure game of the season. Brooks also grabbed six rebounds on the night.
Alayshia Hunter chipped in 12 rebounds and six points for ULM.
Chyna Ellis had a game-high 14 points for the Jaguars.
Christina Gray used a layup early in the game to spark an 11-0 Warhawk run as the visiting team took a 13-2 advantage with 13:26 left in the first half.
The home team cut the lead to six, but Chase hit a layup and Hunter nailed a free throw to extend ULM's lead to nine, 20-11, with 6:41 remaining before the break.
South Alabama ended the half on an 8-2 spurt to leave the Warhawks with a 22-19 advantage heading into the locker room.
USA's Marquita Daniels hit a three-pointer to tie the game at the start of the second half, but Brooks' jumper gave ULM a 24-22 lead with 17:01 left in the game.
The home team took their first lead of the game as Daniels hit another bucket from beyond the arc. The lead was extended to three as Taylor Jenkins hit a basket, but back-to-back jumpers from Chase and Hunter sparked a 9-0 run by ULM as they regained the lead, 33-27, with 11:26 remaining.
South Alabama cut the lead to three with 5:26 left, but the Warhawks stretched their advantage back to nine en route to a 45-38 road victory as they completed the season sweep over the Jaguars.
ULM will complete their road slate on Saturday as they travel to Appalachian State for a noon tipoff in the Holmes Convocation Center.
