University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Second Half Propels Southern Miss Past Samford, 63-47
1/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Second Half Propels Southern Miss Past Samford, 63-47
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Southern Miss held Samford scoreless for the last 4:50 of the game on its way to a 63-47 victory in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in Seibert Hall.
Southern Miss, 11-1, hit its last five shots of the game. Denise Wilson led the Lady Eagles with 12 points followed by .Deondra Carter and Tierra Lassiter with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Alex Munday led Samford, 6-4, with a game-high 16 points and Lindsey Harris added 10 points.
"I was pleased with the way we were able to overcome a very bad shooting performance in the first half," Head Coach Rick Reeves said. "We missed a lot of easy shots, but we stayed with it. Our defense played much better in the second half and I think that helped us get our offense going."
Southern Miss went the first 6:14 without scoring to open the game, while Samford jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Lady Eagles finally scored their first points on a jumper by Wilson at the 13:46 mark. Southern Miss scored five unanswered points to take an 8-7 lead, before Samford went on a 11-0 run for an 18-8 lead. The Lady Eagles battled back to tie the game, 18-18, with an 10-0 run. The score was tied 22-22 at the half.
"We made better decisions in the second half," Reeves said. "I thought Denise (Wilson) did a good job coming off the bench and giving us the lift we needed."
Southern Miss opened the second half with a 5-0 run, but Samford answered with a 5-0 run itself to tie the game at 27-27 with 15:52 remaining. Over the next seven minutes, Southern Miss built a seven-point lead, 42-35. Samford then put together a 10-4 run to tie the game at 47 with 4:26 remaining. That's when the Lady Eagles turned up the defensive pressure and hit their last five shots for the win. Southern Miss shot an impressive 62.5 percent in the second half and only had six turnovers. The Lady Eagles scored 20 points off 17 Samford turnovers.
Southern Miss begins a four-game homestand, playing a non-conference game with New Orleans, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m., before opening league play on Jan. 10 against Tulane.
