Lady Eagles Hold Off Hampton, 55-53
12/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Lady Eagles Hold Off Hampton, 55-53
Southern Miss improved to 6-5, while Hampton dropped to 4-6. Southern Miss had five players score eight points each, Tierra Lassiter, Brown, Victoria Mason, Lana Lewis, and Dana Jones. Hampton's Nicole Brathwaite led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, and Lineni Noa was the only other Hampton player who scored in double-figures, finishing with 13 points.
"Great team effort," Head Coach Rick Reeves said. "I thought the kids played very well. I was very pleased in the second half the way we took care of the basketball. We committed only four turnovers. It was a total team effort. Everybody kept coming in doing a great job. We were worried about our players keeping their focus before we got on break."
Both teams played even throughout the first half, with neither team having more than a four-point lead at any point during the half. There were eight different lead changes. The Lady Eagles owned the advantage with 14 points in the paint, but Hampton produced 10 second-chance points. Brown pulled down 15 rebounds in the half and had five blocked shots. Southern Miss led 24-23 at the intermission.
Southern Miss opened the second half with a 4-2 run to push the lead to 10-points, 28-18, with three minutes gone in the half. The Golden Eagles' lead would build to 12 with Dana Jones and LaTasha Sumerall combining for the seven points.
The second half started with six lead changes in the first four minutes. The Lady Eagles managed a four-point lead, 33-29, following a three-pointer by La'Tasha Sumerall and two free throws by Brown. Hampton came roaring back, scoring six unanswered points to take a two-point lead, 35-33, with 12:56 remaining in the game.
Over the next 3:54, Hampton went on an 8-4 run, and led by six points, 53-37. Southern Miss began to chip away at that lead, outscoring Hampton 8-2, to tie the game at 45-45, at the 6:24 mark. The Lady Eagles then scored nine unanswered points over the next 2:27 and led 54-49. However, Hampton was not done yet. The Lady Pirates outscored Southern Miss, 8-1, remainder of the half. Southern Miss held on for the win.
Southern Miss will take a break for the Christmas Holidays and returns to action, Dec. 28-29, in the Blue Sky Restaurant Group/Dartmouth Classic at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., facing Kentucky at 5 p.m., in the first game.