Southern Miss
Memphis
Southern Miss Holds Off Memphis, 74-65
1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2009
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Southern Miss' Tanesha Washington scored perhaps the biggest four points of her 12 in the last 30 seconds, helping Southern Miss hold off a late rally by Memphis in a 74-65 victory Saturday afternoon.
"It was a tale of two halves," Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "I thought Memphis came out and play a heck of a game in the first half, and I thought we played the second half. We didn't get down, we kept it close and we were able to make some things happen. Offensively and defensively we had some mental lapses. We didn't finish plays, we boxed out but we didn't get the ball. The second half, we challenged them in that locker room, then came out and finished plays. I believe that was the difference in the game.
"But you have to give Memphis credit because they executed down the stretch and didn't give up."
Southern Miss (9-7, 2-1) had two players record double-doubles led by Stephanie Helgeson with a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds and Pauline Love added 16 points and 11 rebounds.
"We got a big lead, they were having fun and we executed," McNelis said. "Then, we relaxed. I think we were fortunate to get out of here with a win. Memphis
The Lady Eagles held an 18-point advantage, 68-50, with 4:17 remaining when the Lady Tigers (7-9, 0-3) mounted a comeback, cutting the lead to just three points, 65-68, using a15-0 run behind the one-two punch of Paris Leonard and Ramses Lonlack. Leonard finished with a game-high 25 points, including 17 in the second half. Lonlack added 15 points.
During that run, Memphis forced Southern Miss into four turnovers and turned them into 12 points, while holding the Lady Eagles scoreless in the process.
"Tanesha Washington did a phenomenal job coming off the bench," said McNelis. "She did the same thing against UAB. She made some big plays in crunch time. What a second half by Stephanie Helgeson. She really played well in the second half. We challenged her at the half and she answered that challenge."
Memphis opened the game scoring the first five points before Southern Miss scored its firsts on a basket by Love. Memphis pushed its lead to eight, 11-3, before the Lady Eagles scored eight unanswered points over a four-minute span to tie the game at 11-1.
The Tigers quickly answered converting on back-to-back buckets and led 15-11 at the 10:58 mark, and eventually outscored USM 13-9 to take an eight point lead, 28-20, with 4:51 remaining before the half.
The Lady Eagles fought back to get within one, 28-27, but Memphis once again control the tempo down the stretch, outscoring 7-4. Southern Miss trailed 35-31 when Copeland hit a jumper as time expired.
Both team battled back and forth to start the second half, battling to a 40-41 tie, before USM outscored Memphis, 20-4, to take a 60-44 lead. The Lady Eagles pushed the lead to 18, 68-50, before Memphis began its comeback.
Southern Miss returns to action, Jan. 18, when the Lady Eagles host UCF at 2 p.m.
