Nov. 20, 2008

Box Score

|Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. - South Alabama overcame a 10-point deficit and literally stole the game when Shakira Nettles stole a Southern Miss inbound pass, got fouled, then converted both free throws giving South Alabama a 66-64, win over the visiting Golden Eagles Thursday night.

On the other hand, Southern Miss missed a golden opportunity to seal the win when Stephanie Helgeson missed two free throws with 19.8 seconds remaining while holding a two-point lead, 64-62. The Lady Jags extended its winning streak to six straight games over Southern Miss.

Helgeson paced Southern Miss (2-1) with a team-high 18 points to go with 10 rebounds, Tanesha Washington came off the bench to score 11 points and Amber Eugene added 10.

Jessica Starling led all scorers with a game-high 24 points and Nettles added 16 points for South Alabama (3-0).

"When you play against good teams, games are won four ways," Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "They are won at the free throw line, taking care of the basketball, taking away their best shooters and getting the key rebounds down the stretch. We didn't do that tonight."

Southern Miss led twice in the first half, 2-0, and 6-4, and from there, the Lady Jags took control. USA led by as many as five points early, but Southern Miss battled back to tie the game at 14-14, but the Jags came right back with a three-pointer from Nettles, a free throw from Morriah Smith and another basket by Nettles to take a 20-16 lead.

"I believe our short cuts caught up with us," McNelis said. "We have to do the little things like take care of the basketball and make free throws. We just didn't execute in the last seven seconds of the game. But goes back to the 10-point lead when we didn't defense the bounce; we gave up threes; we did not execute defensively when we needed to; and we quick rebounding during crunch time."

Every time Southern Miss threatened or tied the game, South Alabama had an answer. The Jags led 36-32 at the half despite the Lady Eagles holding a 22-to-8 points in the paint advantage.

Southern Miss outscored South Alabama, 7-2, to take a 39-28 lead, but it was short lived as the Jags scored on a quick basket and a three-pointer off a USM turnover, pushing the lead back to four, 43-39. From there, the Lady Eagles regrouped and put together a 12-0 run for a 51-43 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining. The Golden Eagle eventually led by as many as 10 points, 57-47 at the 8:21 mark.

South Alabama began chipping away at the lead, using a 9-2 run to get within three points, 56-59. Southern Miss led 64-58 with 1:08 remaining, when the Lady Jags was able to keep the Golden Eagles from scoring, while controlling the offensive boards down the stretch and taking advantage of costly Golden Eagle turnovers.

Southern Miss won the battle of the boards, outrebounding South Alabama 47-37. USM made only one three-pointer, while USA knocked down seven. Southern Miss was 15-of-23 from the line.

The Lady Eagles return to action when they travel to Monroe, La., to play Louisiana-Monroe, Nov. 25. Game time is set for 7 p.m.