USJ girls advance to state semifinals with win over FRA

When Franklin Road Academy took its first lead in the Division II-A sub-state game, the Lady Panthers didn't stay ahead long.

USJ's Morgan Williams answered a 3-pointer by FRA's Riley Casey with one of her own 17 seconds later.

Those 17 seconds was the only time that the Lady Panthers led as USJ advanced to the Division II-A state semifinals next Friday with a 64-46 win at home.

"We jumped out and had great crowd energy, but being the program that FRA is, they are not going to quit," USJ coach Tony Shutes said. "They fought back, and Riley Casey, who I was worried about, got the hot hand when we didn't get over the screens. I am proud of the way the girls fought in the third quarter when FRA took that one-point lead. We made a little run, and that is the kind of fight they have shown all year."

USJ (28-3) will play Battle Ground Academy on Friday at 10 a.m. in the state semifinals at Allen Arena on the campus of Lipscomb University.

"It is awesome," Williams said. "It is something that we haven't done in our four years, and it hasn't been done since 2005. It is hard to put into words."

The Lady Bruins got the start they wanted as they opened the game on a 10-0 run, and they ended the game well, holding FRA to five points in the fourth quarter.

It was in the middle of the game that USJ was up and down.

USJ's Anna Jones, a Middle Tennessee State signee, proved why she is one of the three finalists for the Division II-A Miss Basketball award as she scored a game-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds.

"We knew coming in that it was a game of runs, and we knew that they were not going to quit or stop fighting," Jones said. "We knew we had to get that next stop so that we could get back on our game. We couldn't get caught up in the atmosphere of the game."

But in the first half, Jones didn't have that post presence to go along with her play around the perimeter.

Hulme picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter and had to sit out, while Taylor Tenpenny struggled to get into the flow of the game.

"We had to challenge Taylor at halftime because she missed some easy shots and got called for some illegal screens," Shutes said. "I saw that body language. She came out and answered the bell in the second half."

Both post players changed that in the second half. Hulme finished with 13 points with 10 points coming in the second half.

"It was huge getting her back out there," Jones said. "She is such a presence on offense and defense, and she is a huge factor. She was killing it offensively."

Tenpenny picked up her defense to stop FRA's inside game and added four points.

In the second half, the Lady Bruins also started to force the Lady Panthers into more turnovers. That started with Williams on top of the half-court defense.

"We talked about at halftime that we can't let our guard down, no matter what the score is," Williams said. "Once they took that lead, it got in our head that we had to turn it up. Nothing at this point of the season is going to be easy, and we had to fight for it."

FRA finished with 22 turnovers.

"Morgan was unbelievable tonight," Shutes said. "Defense is where it starts for her. Morgan hit two big 3s, but key was Morgan's defense on Casey."

But before the celebration in the gymnasium was complete, Shutes had the next game on his mind.

"I guess it is time to start looking at BGA," he said.

Reach Michael Odom at michodom@jacksonsun.com or 731-425-9754. Follow him on Twitter @JSWriterMichael.