Southern Miss Loses Conference Opener to Tulane, 64-42
1/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Files associated with this release:
Southern Miss Loses Conference Opener to Tulane, 64-42
NEW ORLEANS - Southern Miss was plagued by cold shooting, losing to Tulane 64-42, in the conference opener. The Lady Eagles dropped to 7-7, 0-1, while Tulane improved to 9-5, 1-0.
The Lady Eagles finished the game, shooting a frigid 20 percent (13-of-65) from the field. Not one Lady Eagle scored in double-figures. Jessica Woods led Southern Miss with nine points and eight rebounds. Lakethia Hampton led Tulane with 12 points and Kelly Nadeau chipped in 11 points.
"I thought we played hard enough to win, but we just didn't execute enough to win," Head Coach Rick Reeves said. "We missed several scoring opportunities. For some reason, we are struggling on the road. We changed some things up. We just have to quit playing from behind. Defensively, we did a good job, but we could have done a little more defensively. I'm disappointed for the players, not disappointed in the players. I thought we played so hard today."
Southern Miss opened the game hitting only one of its first 11 shots, while Tulane built a 10-2 lead through the first five minutes. The Lady Eagles went 4:16 before scoring their next field goal, a three-pointer by Allison Story at the 14:16 mark. Southern Miss cut the Green Wave's lead to four, 12-8, with 12:15 remaining before the half. Tulane, then, scored 12 unanswered points, taking a 14-8 lead, over 4:44 taking a 24-8 lead.
Southern Miss scored its next points on a jumper by Jones, after going 5:34 without scoring a basket. The Lady Eagles began to chip into that lead, outscoring Tulane 11-3 over a 5:40 span, cutting the lead to six, 27-21. Tulane led at the half, 31-24.
Tulane opened the second half with a 7-2 run, taking a 38-26 lead. Over the next five minutes, Southern Miss cut the lead to four, 39-35, outscoring Tulane, 9-1. Southern Miss hit another cold-shooting spell, allowing the Green Wave to build a 15-point advantage.
Both teams combined for 49 turnovers and 98 rebounds.
Southern Miss returns home to host Memphis, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m.