Nov. 17, 2008

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss used a balanced scoring attack, placing five players in double-figure scoring in knocking off Tennessee State, 79-57, in its home opener Monday night.

"I thought we played a very good first half," Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "I thought Stephanie Helgeson played a phenomenal first half, giving us consistent effort. She got on the floor after loose balls and played with a lot of intensity. As a whole, I thought our team came out ready to play and was able to get some easy things going offensively and it was all generated out of our defense."

Juniors Stephanie Helgeson (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Pauline Love (11 points, 12 rebounds) recorded double-doubles, while Candace Rucker and Erin Gatling scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, points off the bench. Kendra Reed chipped in 12 points. Tennessee State's Tiffany Jackson led all scorers with a game-high 23 points to go with 11 rebounds and Tequila Martin added 10.

The Lady Eagles (2-0) quickly ran out to a commanding lead, holding the Lady Tigers to just seven points over the first 15 minutes. Eight different players scored two or more points in the first half, while shooting 47.2 percent.

Southern Miss put up 26 points in the paint and 15 points off turnovers with the bench doing most of the damage. Southern Miss led 41-15 at the half.

"We were pleased with our first half, but we have to understand that it is not a 20-minute game," McNelis said. "We have to be able to work at playing longer and that's really important.

TSU (1-1) opened the second half, matching the Lady Eagles basket for basket through the first six minutes. The Lady Tigers then put together a 13-0 run over a span of 4:05 to cut the lead to 20, 55-35. TSU was unable to get the margin under 20 points, even though the Lady Tigers outscored Southern Miss 42-38 in the second half.

"Another positive was that our bench gave us a balanced scoring attack and we were able to get some points from them," said McNelis. "Again, Rucker came off the bench and gave us a lift and spurred our energy. She made a lot of things happen for us."

Southern Miss held a 45-36 rebounding edge and finished the game shooting 48.4 percent from the field.

Southern Miss returns to action, traveling to Mobile, Ala., to play South Alabama, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.