Southern Miss
Michigan
Southern Miss Ends Season With 59-45 Loss To Michigan
3/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 27, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Southern Miss briefly took a two-point lead, 27-25, following a three-point play by Andrea Barber with 14:44 remaining in the game, then, over the next nine minutes, the Lady Eagles were out scored 18-0 as Michigan came away with a 59-45 win Thursday night in the third round of the WNIT at the Crisler Arena.
Southern Miss concludes its season at 21-14, while Michigan improves to 19-13 and plays Michigan State in the Elite Eight.
No Southern Miss player recorded double figures for the first time this season. Pauline Love, Liz Biland and Brittany Johnson tallied eight points apiece. Michigan's Jessica Minnfield and Stephany Skrba led the Wolverines with 13 points each and Janelle Cooper chipped in 10.
Michigan ran out to a 7-0 lead before Amber Eugene connected on a basket on a layup at the 16:44 mark. The Wolverines took advantage of cold shooting by the Lady Eagles, and pushed their lead to 17-4. From there, Southern Miss used a 14-2 run, cutting the lead to one, 19-18, with 1:26 to go before the half. Michigan led 21-18 at the intermission.
Both teams struggled from the field in the early going to start the second half, however, Michigan was able to push its halftime lead to five points, 25-20, before Southern Miss scored seven-straight points to take a two-point lead for the first time.
Over a the next 5:36, Southern Miss had nine possessions and of those nine possessions, committed eight turnovers that led to nine Michigan points. Barber ended the Southern Miss drought with a basket at the 5:43 mark.
After Michigan pushed its lead to its largest lead of 26 points, 55-29, Southern Miss was able to end the game on a 15-2 run. Johnson did most of the damage, scoring all eight of her points in the last 1:45.
Biland, the only senior, wraps up her career with 837 points, 611 rebounds, 103 assists, 110 steals and 112 total blocks.
The Lady Eagles return 90 percent for their offense and 89 percent of their rebounds for next season. The 21 wins are the most since the 1995-96 season and this was also the farthest a Southern Miss team advanced in the WNIT.
