Southern Miss
Louisiana
Southern Miss Claims 76-73 Overtime Win Over Louisiana-Lafayette
11/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss women's basketball team overcame a 17-point first half deficit in claiming 76-73 overtime over Louisiana-Lafayette in the first game of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic.
Senior Brittany Johnson and junior Rachel Vigers paced the Lady Eagles in scoring with 14 points apiece while senior Tanesha Washington and freshman Jamierra Faulkner added 14 points each and Geneshia Dunbar chipped in 11. Dunbar also grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds.
Faulkner recorded her first double-double with the addition of 11 assists.
Danyell Oliver led Louisiana-Lafayette with a game-high 17 points followed by Mercedes Johnson with 14 and Jasmine Barnes and Danielle Smith added 12 points apiece.
"What a heck of a ball game," Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "Tonight we got to see our young team grow up a little. UL came out in the first half and they punched us in the mouth and took total control. We got down 17."
Southern Miss took the early 3-0 lead before Louisiana roared back scoring 16 unanswered points over a four-minute span. A one point during the first half, the Lady Eagles were shooting only 18 percent from the floor.
The Ragin' Cajuns led by 17 points, 28-11, with 5:47 remaining before the half when the Lady Eagles used a 13-8 run to cut the lead to 36-24 at the half. Brittany Johnson sparked the run with back-to-back three pointers.
"I think the one word to describe us tonight is resilient," McNelis said. "I thought we were able to make a lot of things happen out of our defense in the second half. And that's what I'm most proud of is how we came back in that second half, our defense generated us some offense. Brittany Johnson hits some buckets and got our momentum going. Geneshia Dunbar really did a great job of cleaning the glass, just totally dominating. I thought the play of Jamierra was solid in directing this team and becoming vocal."
Southern Miss opened the second half with a 13-0 run to take its first lead since the 17:28 mark in the first half. Louisianan responded with a 7-0 run in regaining the lead. The freshmen High and Faulkner combined for eight of 10 points in putting USM up, 47-46, with 8:43 to go. From there, the teams battled back and forth for the next four minutes.
With the scored tied at 53-53, USM's Brittany Johnson connected on one of her four-three pointers for the 56-53 lead. UL's Danyell Oliver responded in kind with a trey of her own then pulled ahead on a Jasmine Barnes jumper. The Eagles' Dunbar tied the game again with a basket and then went ahead on a Vigers layup with 2:05 remaining in regulation.
Oliver then completed a three-point play to give the Ragin' Cajuns a one-point advantage with 14 seconds to go. On the Eagles' next possession, Dunbar battled for a rebound and got foul, but made only one of two to send the game into overtime.
Southern Miss took control of the overtime when Dunbar and Vigers scored off two offensive rebounds. UL cut the lead to one after Oliver made all three free throw attempts after being fouled on a three-point try.
"Tandrea High struggles defensively, gets lost on three consecutive possessions," McNelis said. "We pull her out and kind of get on her. She did not pout like most freshmen would have. She takes coaching and goes back in and we have to depend on her in overtime. She scored six points. Again, it was a great team effort."
The Lady Eagle held the lead the entire overtime period. Southern Miss sealed the win when Vigers connected on one-of-two from the line and High came up with the rebound off the miss free throw with 11 seconds remaining in the overtime.
Southern Miss will play the No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats in the championship game at 4:30 p.m., Saturday.
Kentucky defeated Murray State, 91-59, in the second game. A'dia Mathies led Kentucky with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Kayla Lowe and Mariah Robinson led Murray State with 14 points apiece.
Louisiana-Lafayette will take Murray State at 2 p.m., in the consolation game.
