University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagle Basketball Team Set To Host UTEP
1/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2010
GM 20: SOUTHERN MISS (4-15, 0-6) vs. UTEP (12-8, 3-3)
Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 • Hattiesburg, Miss.
Tip-off: 4 p.m.
Arena: Reed Green Coliseum (8,095)
Radio: WXHB-FM 96.5
TV: None
Ranking: None
Southern Miss: Joye Lee-McNelis (Southern Miss, '84)
83-90 at Southern Miss (Sixth season); 312-246 (20th season)
UTEP: Keitha Adams (Southwestern, `89)
135-158 at UTEP (Ninth season)
Southern Miss at a Glance
Southern Miss opens a three-game homestand, beginning with UTEP on Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. The Lady Eagles enter the contest at 4-15 overall and 0-6 in Conference USA. The Lady Eagles have lost their last 11 games that included an 80-63 loss at Tulane.
Pauline Love capped off the weekend with a 25-point, 17-rebound performance against the Green Wave. Candace Rucker scored 14 points and Tanesha Washington chipped in 10 points. Washington will have to serve a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul she committed during the Tulane game.
Love leads team in scoring and rebounding with 16.5 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. She remains third in the league in scoring and first in the league in rebounding. Love and UCF's Emma Cannon (13.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg) are currently the only players averaging a double-double among the league players. Rucker moved into second on the team in scoring, contributing 11.3 points per game while Washington is averaging 10.4 points but is second on the team in rebounding at 6.1 boards per game.
As a team, Southern Miss continues to struggle with its scoring woes and is averaging 60.7 points, while giving up 69.3 points per game. The Lady Eagles are pulling down 38.0 rebounds per game and shooting 39.8 percent from the field, including 31.5 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. Eight different players have made at least one three-pointer. The Black and Gold is shooting 67.2 percent from the line.
UTEP at a Glance
UTEP enters the contest 12-8 overall and 3-3 in C-USA play following a 57-47 loss at Tulane Thursday night, snapping a modest two-game winning streak. Jareica Hughes and Dietra Caldwell scored 11 points apiece for the Miners in a defensive battle between the two teams.
Hughes leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points per outing while Anete Steinberga leads team in rebounding at 6.0 boards per game in addition to averaging 11.8 points. Caldwell also is averaging 11.5 points per game.
UTEP is hitting 43.9 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 488-of-1,112 attempts, including 132-of-354 from beyond the 3-point arc (.373). The Miners' defense has held opponents to a 35.9 shooting percentage (409-of-1,139) and a 32.7 clip from 3-point land (123-of-376). UTEP opponents are averaging 60.8 points, 38.4 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 8.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.
This is the seventh meeting between the two teams. UTEP leads the series, 4-2, dating back to the 1993-94 season. The Eagles are 2-1 in Hattiesburg, 0-2 in El Paso and 0-1 at neutral sites. Southern Miss won the first two meetings in the series. UTEP has won the last four meetings between the two teams.
Southern Miss returns to action on Feb. 4 when the Lady Eagles host East Carolina at 7 p.m.
