University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
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Mississippi State
Women's Basketball Team Defeats In-state Rival
12/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2006
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- - Southern Miss held off a late rally by Mississippi State, defeating the Lady Bulldogs, 57-47, Sunday, before a crowd of 1,878.
Southern Miss snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 4-6, while State dropped to 4-3.
Kendra Reed led Southern Miss with a game-high 21 points and Amber Eugene came off the bench to score 17 points. Emer Foley hauled in a team-high 14 rebounds, while Reed chipped in nine rebounds. Imesia Jackson was the only player from Mississippi State to score in double-figures with 15 points. Robin Porter and Bethany Washington grabbed 15 and 14 rebounds, respectively.
"Today was a great opportunity to face a challenge," Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "We have struggled as a team and today we did a great job of stepping up and answering the call of a challenge.
"That's what we talked about in the locker room before the game, about courage and persistence and about being strong during the tough times. That's what we did today even when Mississippi State made a run and came at us."
The Lady Eagles held a 12-point lead, 49-37, when State used an 8-0 run, cutting the lead to four, 49-45, with 4:21 remaining in the game. Eugene gave the Lady Eagles a seven-point advantage on a three-point play the old fashioned way at the 3:00 mark. From there, Southern Miss outscored State 5-2 in the last 1:15 to secure the win.
"We are excited about getting Amber Eugene back after sitting out for two weeks with a concussion," said McNelis. "I believe she was a big difference maker today."
Mississippi State scored the first basket on its first possession 11 seconds into the game. Southern Miss scored its points 2:18 into the game on a three-point play by Foley. From there, both teams traded baskets over the next three minutes. State led 6-5 when the Lady Eagles scored six straight points, taking a 9-6 lead.
"Reed was simple awesome today," McNelis said. "It's been due for Kendra to have a good game."
With the scored tied 18-18 at the 6:04 mark in the half, Southern Miss then outscored the Bulldogs 8-3 for a 26-21 halftime lead.
The Lady Eagles finished the half shooting 38.7 percent, while State shot 27.3 percent from the field.
Southern Miss finished the game with 16 turnovers, tying a season-low. Both teams finished with identical shooting percentages, 33.3 percent.
Southern Miss returns to action, Dec. 16-17, in the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Flint Hills Resources Islander Invitational. The Lady Eagles will play Cal Poly in the first game of the tournament, Dec. 16 at 6 p.m.
