Lady Eagles Fall to Charlotte, 80-54
2/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lady Eagles Fall to Charlotte, 80-54
CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Charlotte used an 8-2 run to close out the first half and a 10-0 run to start the second half, on its way to an 80-54 victory over Southern Miss Friday night in Halton Arena. Southern Miss, losing for the fourth time in as many games, dropped to 12-14 and 5-8 in the league, while Charlotte improved to 19-7 and 11-2. Southern Miss concludes the regular season Sunday at East Carolina.
Southern Miss shot .409 in the first half, limited the visitors to .351 shooting, but 17 first half turnovers proved costly for the Lady Eagles as Charlotte scored 13 points off the miscues. Southern Miss finished the game with a season-high 31 turnovers.
Dana Jones and Allison Story led the Lady Eagles with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Charlotte's Leslie Cook led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, Peaches Harris had 15 points and Sakellie chipped in 10 points. The 49ers had a team-high 21 steals.
"Charlotte is one of those well-rounded, balanced teams," Head Coach Rick Reeves said. "It takes a deep team to beat them. I do want to compliment our kids. I thought our young kids came in and played hard and showed a lot of heart."
Southern Miss opened the game, scoring the first five points before Charlotte went on a 15-9 run to take a 15-14 lead at the 13:42 mark. Charlotte continued to build on its lead and led by as many as 12 points, 29-17, with 7:13 before the half. Southern Miss scored six unanswered points, cutting the lead to six, 29-23, but the 49ers outscored the Eagles, 8-2, to close out the half. Charlotte led 37-25.
"We were able to get Dana the ball early, but not in the second half," Reeves said. "We didn't get our post involved in the second. For us to beat them, we felt like we had to take the ball inside. They did a good job of not allowing us to do that."
Charlotte scored the first 10 points to open the second half and never looked back. The 49ers' press forced the Lady Eagles into 14 second half turnovers and held Southern Miss to .375 percent shooting from the field.
Southern Miss concludes its regular season Sunday at East Carolina, Mar. 2, at 1 p.m. central.