Southern Miss
ULM
Women's Basketball Falls To Louisiana-Monroe, 75-67
12/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
Louisiana-Monroe-Southern Miss Box Score
Despite five players in double-digit scoring, the Southern Miss Lady Eagle basketball team dropped a 75-67 decision to Louisiana Monroe, before 657 in Reed Green Coliseum tonight.
With the loss, Southern Miss falls to 3-8, while Louisiana-Monroe improves to 7-3.
"I'm proud of our energy and effort and the way we scrapped," Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "We struggled in two areas. We made some mistakes that led to easy baskets and we made too many turnovers.
"It's been a long time since we had that many players in double-digit scoring, which shows a balanced attack."
Louisiana-Monroe opened the game on a 6-0 run, before Southern Miss responded with a 7-0 run to take a 7-6 advantage with 16:25 to play in the first half. Down by one, 31-30 with 3:33 to play, Louisiana-Monroe closed the opening period on a 11-4 run, to take a 42-34 halftime lead. The Lady Eagles made 18 turnovers in the opening period, which the Lady Indians turned into 22 points.
In the second half, the Lady Eagles got within six 1:30 into the second half, before Louisiana-Monroe pushed its lead out to 14, 57-43 with 13:56 to play. The Lady Eagles then used an 11-0 run to get within three, 57-54 with 9:50 to play. But that would be as close as the Lady Eagles would get, as they found themselves within three on two more occasions, 65-62 with 5:13 to play and 67-64 with 2:56 remaining, but could not get closer.
Southern Miss out-shot Louisiana Monroe 50 percent (25-50) to 40 percent (28-70). The Lady Eagles also held a 43-36 edge in rebounding, while the Lady Indians held a 14-6 edge in offensive rebounds. The Lady Eagles finished with 26 turnovers, only making eight in the second half.
Ashley Harrell finished with a game-high 20 points, while Kendra Reed had a double-double, the second of her career, with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Amber Eugene finished with 11 points, while Ashley Boehnel and Liz Biland each had 10 points. Kristin Chaney added a game-high eight assists.
Michelle Biley had a team-high 18 points for Louisiana-Monroe, while Aishie Banks and April ONeal each had 13.
Southern Miss returns to action on Saturday, at UCF in a 1 p.m., contest. The game will be the Conference USA opener for both teams.
