Lady Eagles Defeat East Carolina in Overtime, 62-61
3/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Lady Eagles Defeat East Carolina in Overtime, 62-61
Dana Jones led Southern Miss with 17 points, La'Tasha Sumerall had 12 and Lassiter added 10. Courtney Willis led ECU with 19 points, Jennifer Jackson had 17, including 15 in the first half, and Tali Robich added 12.
"Our seniors stepped up today and won this game for us," Head Coach Rick Reeves said. "I am pleased with the character this team showed today. Dana, Sonja, Jessica and La'Tasha did a tremendous job today. They played with a lot of intensity and energy."
Southern Miss scored first and led 8-5, when East Carolina scored 12 unanswered points over 3:49, taking a 17-8 lead. Over the next 4:30, the Pirates outscored the Lady Eagles 10-2 and led 27-12 at the 7:05 mark. Southern Miss began to chip away at the Pirates' lead and eventually cut the lead to five, 31-26, following a Jessica Woods three-point play. Southern Miss managed to hit only one free throw the remainder of the half, while ECU scored five points for a 36-27 halftime lead.
"That last play was designed to go to either Tierra or La'Tasha," Reeves said. "It was up Marlena to get the ball to the open player and she did. They did a good job of executing the play."
Southern Miss finished the first half shooting 40 percent, while ECU shot 46.7 percent. ECU outrebounded Southern Miss 19-15. Both teams combined for only 11 turnovers in the first half.
Southern Miss opened the second, scoring four unanswered points to cut the ECU lead to five, 36-31. The Eagles continued to chip away at that ECU lead. The Pirates led 46-37 when the Lady Eagles outscored ECU 14-0 run over 8:04, taking a 51-47 lead. Southern Miss had the opportunity to win the game in regulation, when Sonja Brown missed one-of-two from the free throw line with 9.8 seconds remaining. Willis scored with 1.4 seconds remaining to force the overtime.
In the overtime, both team came out shooting cold from the floor. Robich canned a three-pointer with 2:13 in the overtime, giving ECU a 60-58 lead. Jones then hit one-of-two free throws with 1:11 remaining, cutting the lead to one, 60-59. With 11.4 seconds remaining in the overtime, Robich connected on one-of-two free throw, giving the Pirates a two-point lead, however, the Lady Eagles got the ball to a wide-open Lassiter for the three and the win.
Southern Miss finished the game shooting 43.1 percent, while ECU shot 33.3 percent. ECU held the rebounding edge, 43-39. Sonja Brown finished the day with seven blocked shots, six in the last 11 minutes of the game, including the overtime.
"These kids have worked hard over the last two weeks and I am pleased with the way we just hung in there," Reeves said. "The seniors on this team deserve to finish their careers on a positive note and I think today they did just that."
Southern Miss travels to the Conference USA Tournament in Memphis, Mar. 6-9, at the Pyramid.