Southern Miss
Memphis
Women's Basketball Team Drops 60-57 Decision To Memphis
1/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- What appeared to be a promising chance for the Southern Miss Lady Eagles to snap a losing streak ended in familiar fashion Sunday night with a 60-57 loss at Reed Green Coliseum.
Lady Eagle junior Tanesha Washington recorded her third double-double of the season with 23 points and 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to push the Lady Eagles (4-13, 0-4 in Conference USA) past Brittany Carter and the Lady Tigers.
Carter took over the second half, scoring 11 of her team-high 17 points in the final 10 minutes and leading Memphis on a game-changing 14-0 run.
Washington grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back to cut the Memphis lead to 59-57 with just under a minute to go. After getting the ball back on a charge call, the Lady Eagles couldn't get a clean shot and turned the ball over on a contested jump-shot.
A missed free throw by Memphis' Alex Winchell gave the Lady Eagles a chance to send the game into overtime with a late 3-point shot, but a steal by Ramses Lonlack as time expired ended the game.
"We just haven't been playing well at the end the past couple of games and losing by two or three points," Washington said. "We keep hearing that our coaches are proud of us and we should keep the faith, and we're ready for one to go our way."
The Lady Eagles limped into Sunday having lost their previous eight games, and have now lost 11 of their last 12.
"It's frustrating," Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "But you can tell how much we're improving with every game. If this team had us down 51-44 like they did tonight before Christmas, they would have blown us right out of here.
"We stayed with it tonight, and I'm proud of our players for doing that. We still have freshman playing in key situations and we're watching them grow up before our eyes."
One of those freshmen is Tuscaloosa, Ala. native Danielle Johnson. The 6-foot guard was three of seven from the 3-point arc Sunday and finished with 16 points.
Southern Miss forward Pauline Love missed her second game in a row after suffering a concussion last Tuesday during a routine practice drill. Washington, Love and Erin Gatling all went up for a rebound in practice and came down hard on the floor.
Lee-McNelis said she hopes to have Love back by Tuesday's practice, but said they were just playing the waiting game.
"She ran stadium steps and ran sprints today in practice and said she felt well enough to play," she said. "But we have to follow the doctor's orders because her health is our main concern."
Southern Miss hits the road for a two-game swing at UCF on Thursday and Tulane on Saturday. Game time against UCF is 6 p.m. and will be televised on locally in Orlando, Fla., on the BHSN Network.
