University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagle Basketball Opens Conference USA Play Against UAB
1/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2011
Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011 • Hattiesburg, Miss.
Tip-off: 7 p.m. (central)
Arena: Reed Green Coliseum (8,095)
Radio: WXHB-FM 96.5
TV: None
Live Stats: Southernmiss.com
Ranking: None
Southern Miss: Joye Lee-McNelis (Southern Miss, '84)
93-104 at Southern Miss (Seven seasons); 322-260 (21 seasons)
UAB: Audra Smith (Virginia, `92)
89-104 at UAB (Seven seasons/same)
Lady Eagle Fast Break Points
• Southern Miss is 5-8 after an 83-61 loss at Louisiana Tech
• The Lady Eagles open conference play at home for the first time since 2007
• Southern Miss is 5-10 in conference openers
• The Lady Eagles have opened conference play with Tulane seven times, with UCF four times, Houston and East Carolina once and former C-USA members Charlotte and TCU once each
• Three players are averaging in double figure scoring led by junior Rachel Vigers at 16.2, followed by Tanesha Washington at 13.2 and Jamierra Faulkner at 11.1 points per game
• Washington leads the team in rebounding with 8.6 rebounds per game
• Vigers recorded her first career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds against Alabama
• Faulkner leads the league and the team in assists while ranking 15th in the nation
• As a team, Southern Miss is averaging 62.0 points and 40.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 65.1 percent from the line.
Scouting UAB
UAB enters the contest with an 8-5 record after a 60-55 win over Austin Peay. This is the conference opener for the Blazers. Amanda Peterson scored her 1,000th career point and tied the school's career 3-point record with her 245th trey. Peterson led the way with a game-high 21 points.
Coach Audra Smith is in her seventh season with the Blazers and returns 10 letterwinners including four starters from last year's team that finished 17-15. Jala Harris leads the team in scoring as she is averaging 15.5 points per game and Amber Jones is next at 10.8 points per game. Maegan Brown leads the team in rebound with 5.8 rebounds per game.
As a team the Blazers are averaging 59.9 points and 36.9 rebounds while shooting 37.7 percent from the field and 56.1 percent from the line. UAB is holding its opponents to 39.7 percent shooting.
The Series
This is the 49th meeting between the two teams dating back to the 1978-79 season. This is one of the longer running series with an opponent. Southern Miss leads the overall series, 32-16. The two teams faced each other for the first time on Jan. 6, 1979, in Birmingham. The two teams split games that season with each team winning at home. The two teams have played each other 28 times since becoming members of Conference USA with USM winning 17 of the 28 meetings. UAB swept the series last season.
What Next?
Southern Miss travels to Orlando, Fla., for a matchup with UCF on Jan. 9. Tip time is set for 1 p.m., central.
