Southern Miss
Memphis
Lady Eagles Get Spark in 66-51 Victory over Memphis
2/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2011
Box Score | Box Score in PDF Format 
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss needed a spark.
They got two instead at Reed Green Coliseum Thursday night as Tanesha Washington scored a career-high tying 27 points, hitting 11-of-16 shots from the floor, and Jamierra Faulkner added 16 points and eight assists to lead the Lady Eagles to a 66- 51 victory over Memphis, while snapping a four-game losing streak in the process.
Southern Miss improved to 10-15 overall and 5-7 in Conference USA.
"The team played with real passion," said Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "WE played with passion, and we played with a refusal to lose. I think we found the true sense of the meaning of playing team basketball - players and coaches."
Down by two points at 15-13, Brittany Johnson, who scored 10 points, hit the first of three 3-pointers in the contest with 9:02 remaining in the opening half to give the home squad a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest.
The Lady Eagles outscored the visitors 10-5 over the final six-plus minutes run to extend their lead to as many as 10 points in the opening half, before settling for a 30-23 lead at intermission.
UM (18-8, 7-5) played without the services of their top scorer, junior Brittany Carter, who sat on the bench with a boot on her left foot and her 13.7 points per game were missed.
The Lady Tigers were led by Nicole Dickson who had 17 points, including three 3-pointers, while Mary Jackson added 12 and Alex Winchell tallied 10. Southern Miss, though, limited UM to 36 percent shooting (19-of-53) and forced 26 turnovers.
For the Lady Eagles, they converted 40 percent (23-of-57) of their shots and collected 13 steals which led to 24 points off turnovers.
The victory snapped a four-game losing streak to the Lady Tigers.
Southern Miss concludes a two-game homestand when they entertain Rice. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
