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Southern Miss Women's Basketball Team Holds On For 71-56 Win Over East Carolina
Feb. 24, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- -
Southern Miss improved to 13-13 on the season and more importantly, 10-5 in league play, securing a first-round by at the Conference USA Tournament, Mar. 2-5, in Dallas, Texas. East Carolina dropped to 15-11 and 7-8. Kendra Reed led the Lady Eagles with 25 points, followed by Liz Biland with 13 points and Amber Eugene recorded her fourth double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Kristin Chaney handed out a season-high 12 assists, just missing a double-double when she scored nine points. ECU's Jasmine Young led all scorers with 28 points. "I thought we got off to a great start," Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "Our offense was working on all cylinders and I thought our defense looked really good. We defended well in the post and on the perimeter." Southern Miss opened the game, scoring the first 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. East Carolina finally scored its first points on a Young basket at the 15:35 mark. The Lady Eagles eventually built as many as a 19 points lead on two occasions, with the last coming at the 8:23 mark in the half, 26-7. "I thought we lost our focus about midway through the second half," Head Coach Joye Lee McNelis said. "We went a span where we couldn't keep them off the offensive boards. We didn't defend well against their perimeter players. Their three-point shooters got open several times and knocked down some threes and that kept them in the game." East Carolina then used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 12 points, 26-14, but Southern Miss closed out the half with 13-5. Southern Miss led 39-19 at the half, after shooting 55.2 percent from the field and holding East Carolina to 28.0 percent. The Pirates opened the second half with a 5-0 run, but Ashley Boehnel hit a three-pointer to put the Lady Eagles up by 18 points, 42-24. From that point, East Carolina began to chip away at the Lady Eagle lead, using a 15-8 run over a five-minute span. ECU eventually cut the lead to 10, 54-44, following a three-pointer by Ebonee Downey at the 8:31 mark, but Southern Miss answered with four quick points for a 58-44 lead. "Overall, I was pleased with our performance and the way we were able to fight to keep the lead," McNelis said. Young and Downey then combined to outscored Southern Miss 9-3, cutting the lead to eight points, 61-53, with 1:53 remaining. The Lady Eagles then connected on 7-of-8 free throws to seal the win. Southern Miss finished the game shooting 48.1 percent from the field and held a 43-33 rebounding edge over East Carolina. Southern Miss travels to Marshall, concluding its regular season before heading to the Conference USA Tournament in Dallas, Texas, Mar. 2-5.
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