TAMPA, Fla. – The Jacksonville University women's basketball team battled on the road to open the season, but ultimately fell at South Florida, 70-39, Tuesday evening at Yuengling Center.
Jacksonville (0-1) struggled to get its offense going in the opening quarter, but the deciding factor came at the boards as USF (1-0) out-rebounded the Dolphins, 63-31.

"A lot of the defensive rebounds [USF] got was because we need to do a better job of getting in the flow of the offense and being more patient and get the ball to the right people," noted head coach Darnell Haney following the game. "South Florida came out and had a pretty good team. They rebounded extremely well, they have a couple guards that know the game and know how to play it. We just have to keep pushing and keep grinding every day. This was a good measuring stick for us to get us going and get us ready for conference play."

Making her return appearance to the floor, redshirt-senior Shakayla Nevitt posted 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting with a pair of three-pointers to lead the Dolphins in the first half and finished the game with a team-high 12 points. Sophomore Destiny Marshall added nine points and six rebounds in the effort. Nevitt was named Hodges Mazda Player of the Game for her efforts.
 

The Dolphins worked to find their rhythm in the opening quarter, but it was a jumper from Nevitt at the buzzer that sparked JU's offense in the second despite trailing, 16-5.

Down the final four minutes of the half, Jacksonville went on a 10-3 run with a pair of three-pointers from Nevitt and baskets from senior Kiara Meeks and freshman Tamia Stallings that chipped away at the Bulls' lead. Finishing off the quarter, Marshall (0:51) and Nevitt (0:12) strung together the final five points of the quarter as USF held a 33-22 lead at the half.

An 11-2 run by the hosts extended their lead to 47-26 with 4:31 left in the third quarter, but the Dolphins continued to battle with seven of the final 10 points down the stretch – including a corner three from redshirt-freshman Erin Wilson with seven seconds remaining – to cut the Bulls' lead to 54-35.

The Dolphins were held to just four points in the final 10 minutes, as USF closed out the game ahead 70-39.

Added Haney, "We saw a lot of good things from a lot of freshmen. I'm excited about the group because they fought. I saw fight in them and I'm okay with that, but we've got to take care of the technical stuff. We have to get to the drawing board and get to work. It's a marathon, not a sprint and we've got to keep grinding."

Senior Kiara Meeks contributed six points, four rebounds, two steals, and two assists, while redshirt-senior Shalonda Neely brought down a team-high six boards.

South Florida was led by Enna Pehadzic's 20 points, while Bethy Mununga recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Dolphins return to action this Saturday, Nov. 9 when they welcome Thomas (Ga.) to Historic Swisher Gymnasium at 1 p.m.