The Southern women's basketball team kept Mississippi Valley State at arm's length for 25 minutes before really turning it on.
Sparked by a 9-0 run to end the third quarter, top-seeded Southern got the separation it wanted and coasted in the fourth quarter of a 63-43 quarterfinal win over Mississippi Valley State at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament in Atlanta.
Southern (18-14) will take a day off before returning to action at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Jaguars will face the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal game between No. 4 Jackson State and No. 5 Grambling.
"It was a grind-it-out game, and that's what we did," Southern coach Carlos Funchess said. "The young ladies kept fighting and fighting. Things weren't going great for us, but we just kept battling."
After trailing 34-23 at halftime, Valley (8-23) got as close as nine points in the third quarter. The Devilettes trailed 45-35 midway through the quarter but went scoreless the rest of the quarter.
Soniyah Reed and Sky Castro each had two baskets, and Jocelyn Tate handed out two assists as Southern surged to a 54-35 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars defense did the rest, holding Valley to eight points in the fourth quarter.
Aniya Gourdine and Reed finished with 14 points apiece while DaKiyah Sanders and Tate each scored 10. Gourdine also had seven rebounds and three steals.
"We don't depend on one or two players. It's the team aspect that takes charge for us," Funchess said. "We did a great job of spreading it out, moving the basketball and getting it to the open people."
Jaylie Reed topped Valley with 15 points. Devilettes leading scorer D'Yanna Maxey was held to five points.
Sanders opened the game with two baskets as Southern took a 5-0 lead. Valley came back to make it 5-4, but Southern never let the Devilettes take the lead. Reed and Gourdine each made 3-pointers, and Southern led 15-10 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, a 3-pointer from Reed helped Southern extend its lead to 29-15. The Devilettes could get no closer than nine points and trailed 34-23 at the half.
Southern made just 11 of 37 shots in the half, but it pulled down 14 offensive rebounds. The Jaguars also scored 15 points off of 14 forced turnovers.
