University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagles Face UCF
1/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2010
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 • Orlando, Fla.
Tip-off: 6 p.m. (CT)
Arena: UCF Arena (10,000)
Radio: WXHB-FM 96.5
TV: BHSN
Ranking: None
Southern Miss: Joye Lee-McNelis (Southern Miss, '84)
83-88 at Southern Miss (Sixth season); 312-244 (20th season)
UCF: Joi Williams (USF, `88)
30-46 at UCF (Third season)
Southern Miss begins a two-game road swing as the Lady Eagles face UCF on Thursday at 6 p.m. (CT) in a locally televised game on the BHSN Network before heading to Tulane for a Saturday matchup at 2 p.m.
The Lady Eagles enter the contest with a 4-13 record overall and 0-4 in league play after a 60-57 loss to Memphis for their ninth straight loss.
Junior forward Tanesha Washington recorded her third double-double of the season with 23 points and 12 rebounds and Danielle Johnson added 16 points to go with seven rebounds.
Pauline Love, who missed the last two games recovering from a concussion suffered in practice last week, leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 16.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. She remains third in the league in scoring and first in the league in rebounding. Love and UCF's Emma Cannon (12.5 ppg, 10.2 rpg) are currently the only players averaging a double-double among the league players.
Candace Rucker moved into second on the team in scoring, contributing 10.7 points per game while Washington is averaging 10.6 points but is second on the team in rebounding at 6.4 boards per game.
As a team, Southern Miss continues to struggle with its scoring woes and is averaging 60.6 points, while giving up 68.6 points per game. The Lady Eagles are pulling down 38.6 rebounds per game and shooting 39.2 percent from the field, including 32.7 percent from behind the arc. This is only the second time a McNelis coached team has shot below 40 percent from the field since arriving at Southern Miss. Seven different players have made at least one three-pointer. The Black and Gold is shooting 67.6 percent from the line.
UCF enters the game with a 3-10 record and 0-4 in conference play. The Knights are coming off a 69-61 loss to UAB last Sunday.
Junior Emma Cannon led UCF with 16 points and 13 rebounds while Marshay White added 14 points and Angelica Mealing chipped in 12. UCF scored 32 points in the paint while UAB had 22.
Cannon leads UCF in scoring and rebounding with 12.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game averages while White is contributing 10.6 points per outing.
As a team, the Knights are averaging 62.7 points per game, while allowing 64.5. UCF is hauling in 38.2 rebounds per contest, while giving up 35.1 rebounds. UCF is shooting 39.1 percent from the field. Head coach Joi Williams is in her third season leading the Knight program. She currently holds a 31-47 (.397) record.
This is the 16th meeting between the two teams. Southern Miss leads the series, 13-2, dating back to the 1980-81 season. The Eagles are 7-0 in Hattiesburg, 6-1 in Orlando and 0-1 at neutral sites. Southern Miss won the first 12 meetings in the series. UCF took two-of-three last season, including defeating Southern Miss in the finals of the Conference USA Championship game.
Southern Miss concludes its road trip at Tulane on Saturday at 2 p.m.
