March 19, 2008

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss women's basketball team recorded the most wins since 1999-2000, ironically that's the last time the Lady Eagles also played in the WNIT. Southern Miss hosts UALR in first round action Thursday at 7 p.m., marking the first time a Southern Miss team has hosted a game in the WNIT.

The game will be broadcast over WXHB-FM 96.5 with the "Voice of the Lady Eagles" Jason Baker providing play-by-play action with former coach Kay James as the color analyst.

Southern Miss (19-13) finished the regular season fifth in Conference USA. The Lady Eagles played three games in the C-USA Tournament, defeating UCF (74-72) and Houston (71-67) before losing to regular-season champion, UTEP (86-69).

Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis is in her fourth year at the helm of the Lady Eagle program.

Pauline Love, a first team all-conference performer, continues to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.7 and 10.6, respectively, while Kendra Reed, Stephanie Helgeson and Amber Eugene are averaging double digit points, 12.0, 11.9 and 10.2, respectively. Andrea Barber also leads the team in assists with a season-best 197 and 49 steals. Reed has connected 63-of-137 three-pointers, shooting 46.0 percent. Six players are shooting 45.0 percent from the field, led by Eugene at 52.7 percent. Both Reed and Eugene are 1,000-point scorers.

As a team, the Lady Eagles are averaging 72.6 points and 38.8 rebounds, while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 77.6 percent from the line. Southern Miss has connected on 164-of-454 threes for 36.1 percent, ranking 33 nationally.

UALR comes in with a school record 23 wins and only eight losses. The Trojans finished first in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference. UALR lost to MTSU in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Head Coach Joe Foley is in his fourth season and has led the Trojans to two consecutive 20-win seasons.

Nikya Hughes leads a trio of Trojans in scoring, averaging 14.4 points and a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game. Anshel Cooper and Kim Sitzmann are next, averaging 12.8 and 12.5 points, respectively.

As a team, UALR is averaging 60.4 points and 32.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 68.1 percent from the line. Hughes and Sitzmann have combined for 90 of the 109 three-pointers.

This is the fifth meeting between the two teams and UALR leads the series, 3-1.

The winner of the game will face Mississippi State in the second round.