MIAMI -- South Alabama outscored Florida International 12-4 over the final four minutes to post a 61-51 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball victory on Thursday at the U.C. Century Bank Arena.
The Jaguars had seen an eight-point advantage slip to 49-47 when Golden Panthers guard Cherisse Buddy connected on the 3-pointer with 4:24 left.
South Alabama guard Shakira Nettles answered with a baseline jumper with 4:03 remaining, and forward Shaniece Brunner followed with her only points of the day, a 3-pointer from the left baseline, for a 54-47 cushion with 3:07 showing.
USA then sealed the win by making 7-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes, including six from guard Morriah Smith, who led the Jaguars with a career-high 16 points.
"We had a lot of players step up and make plays for us on both ends of the floor," South Alabama coach Rick Pietri said after the Jaguars improved to 7-6 overall and 2-0 in league play. "The 3-pointer that Shaniece hit was probably the back-breaker. That was an enormous shot."
Florida International (6-8, 1-2) led by as many as eight points in the first half before USA tied the game at 26-26 at the break.
"I was really concerned about their size on the inside, and we did a pretty good job of managing it for the most part," said Pietri. "(FIU) had some personnel issues with some folks missing. We benefited from that. At the end of the day, they only check the score. They don't check who was playing. It was an opportunistic win for our kids. This is a good basketball team that we beat."
Nettles finished with 14 points, Tashley Gaines 11 and Siedah Banks 10 for USA. Nettles surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her career and also had a career-high six steals.
South Alabama made 42 percent of its shots -- including 8-of-12 from 3-point range -- and knocked down 78 percent of its free throws (15 of 19).
Elisa Carey had 14 points and 14 rebounds and Buddy finished with 13 points for FIU.
USA plays next at 4 p.m. Saturday at Florida Atlantic.