Lady Eagles Suffer First-Round Loss to DePaul, 74-66
USA Tournament records in rallying DePaul to a 74-66 victory over

Southern Mississippi in the first round Friday afternoon.

Williams, whose scoring total and six 3-pointers tied the tournament

records for a single game, was virtually unstoppable in a 13-minute span

during which DePaul (16-12) turned a 41-25 deficit into a 63-50 lead.

Williams started a 23-5 run with a 3-point play with 18:14 to play. In

the next seven minutes, Williams scored 16 points and had an assist to

put the Blue Demons ahead 48-46.

"Going into halftime, coach told us it was up to us if we wanted to

continue our season," Williams said. "I just tried my best to help my team."

Southern Miss (12-16) tied the score twice at 48 and 49 and, after

resting on the bench for 1:03, Williams returned and hit another

3-pointer with 9:12 remaining. That started a decisive 14-1 run and

DePaul led 63-50 with 5:47 left.

Williams was the only DePaul player with more than eight points.

"Obviously Lenae Williams had an outstanding game," said DePaul head

coach Doug Bruno. "When she passes and rebounds, she becomes the

complete player I know she can be."

Victoria Mason scored 17 points and Krystal Courtney 10 for the Golden

Eagles, who scored the game's first eight points en route to a 13-2

lead. It was 36-24 at halftime.

Southern Miss built its lead with the help of six 3-pointers in the

first half, but managed only two in the second half after DePaul

switched to a zone. Williams made five of her 3-pointers in the second

half and finished 13-of-24 from the field after being limited to 2-of-7

in the first half.

"When the young kids start to miss shots, the basket gets smaller and

smalle and smaller," said Southern Miss coach Rick Reeves. "The zone was

hurting us. It was good coaching on their part to keep the zone."

DePaul shot 47 percent (24-51) and Southern Miss dropped to 31 percent

(18-58). DePaul had a 40-28 edge in rebounds.

DePAUL 74, Southern Mississippi 56

SOUTHERN MISS (12-16)

Story 1-5 0-0 3, Woods 1-3 3-4 5, Mason 6-14 3-5 17, Janique Williams

4-9 0-0 9, Johnson 3-11 0-0 8, Lee 0-1 0-0 0, Lana Lewis 1-3 2-2 4, Bliss

0-0 0-1 0, Courtney 2-8 4-6 10, Lassiter 0-2 0-0 0, Reeves 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-2

0-0 0, Gaines 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-58 12-18 56.

DePaul (16-12)

Yolanda Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Blakeslee 0-2 5-6 5, Fitzgerald 1-2 0-0 2, Molly

Watson 1-5 4-4 7, Blankson 3-5 2-2 8, Smith 3-4 0-0 6, Lenae Williams

13-24 6-8 38, Kustok 1-2 2-3 4, Sobieszczyk 2-7 0-0 4, White 0-0 0-0 0. Totals

24-51 19-23 74.

Halftime: Southern Miss 36, DePaul 24.

3-point goals: Southern Miss 8-32 (Story 1-4, Mason 2-5, J. Williams 1-6, Johnson 2-6, Lewis 0-2, Courtney 2-7), DePaul 7-21 (Watson 1-3, Blankson 0-2, L. Williams 6-11, Kustok 0-1, Sobieszczyk 0-4).

Fouled out: Blankson. Rebounds_Southern Miss 28 (Johnson 8), DePaul 40 (Smith 7).

Assists: Southern Miss 13 (Johnson 4), DePaul 14 (Watson 3, Blankson 3).

5 Reid, Prudence Southern Miss 25.77 -2.1 3