SU women cruise to win over SUNO

• By PERRYN KEYS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 15, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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So as the Southern women’s basketball team built a monstrous lead in its season opener Friday night against Southern University-New Orleans, what was coach Sandy Pugh thinking?

None of the above. Truth to tell, she didn’t notice until the second half began.

By then, the rout was already on, and the Jaguars were well on their way to an 86-37 victory against their overmatched NAIA opponent.

“I didn’t realize we were up so many points,” Pugh said. “At halftime we were up by what, 20 points?”

Actually, it was more than that. SU led by 26 at the break, 43-17.

“At that point, it was all about execution, so I wasn’t looking at the score,” Pugh said. “I was looking at what we were doing. … Overall, I thought it was a solid outing for us.”

Friday’s opener was not a blazing-hot night for starters Freda Allen and Deidra Jackson, who combined for just 13 points and five rebounds between them.

Southern held a 14-11 lead early in the first half, but the Jaguars exploded from there after some early substitutions, going on a 22-2 run that removed any concerns about a loss in the season opener.

McKinley product Hannah Kador fired off three 3-pointers, finishing with a game-high 14 points. Fellow reserves Aerica Hicks and Kim Griffin added 10 points apiece as the Jaguars’ bench outscored SUNO, 52-4.

The Jaguars (1-0) played all 11 women on their roster, and they all played at least 14 minutes.