University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagles Begin Four-Game Homestand, Host UCF to Start
2/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2012
| Watch LIVE! 
| Tip: 7:00 p.m. CT
USM Game Notes in PDF Format 
| UCF Game Notes in PDF Format
The Lady Eagle contest can be heard on WHXB-FM 96.5 or at www.SouthernMiss.com with Josh West, voice of the Lady Eagles, providing the play-by-play action and legendary head coach Kay James as his color analyst.
It will be "Heart Day" as the 50 first fans will receive a t-shirt. The goal is to raise awareness about Heart Disease and USM will recognize those who have battled this disease. The Spirit of Women from Forrest General will be on hand at the North Entrance. They will be there with information about heart disease, the on-call nurses at Forrest General, and general wellness information. They will also have members of the Spirit Girls on hand to help out with the game.
Southern Miss Preview
The Lady Eagles are coming off a 74-67 road victory over SMU. Jamierra Faulkner scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field including a 2-of-3 performance from behind the arc. She also dished out six assists and came up with six steals. Tanecka Carey finished with 19 points and Niesha Pierce added 15 points. Ance Celmina grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for the Black and Gold. For the fourth-consecutive game, the Lady Eagles shot 50 percent or better for the game.
Carey and Faulkner lead the team in scoring with averages of 16.2 and 16.3 points, respectively. Carey also leads the team in rebounding at 6.1 boards per game. As a team, USM has continued to improve its field goal percent and now shoots 41.7 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the line while averaging 60.9 points and 36.6 rebounds per outing.
Scouting UCF
UCF enters the contest with an 11-12 overall record and 6-5 in league play. The Knights picked up a hard-fought win over UAB by a score of 41-39. Aisha Patrick led the way with 12 points to go with 10 rebounds while Erika Jones added a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. The Knights held UAB without a field goal for the final 7:26 of the game and held the Blazers to 28.6 percent shooting from the field.
Patrick and Gevenia Carter are averaging in double figures with 13.9 and 11.7 points per game, respectively. Jones is the top rebounder as she is averaging 10.1 rebounds per outing and Patrick is next at 8.7. As a team, the Knights' offense is averaging 54.0 points per game while shooting 36.4 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from the line. UCF is averaging 42.3 rebounds per contest. Coach Joi Williams is in her fifth season at UCF.
Series Notes: Southern Miss vs. UCF
This will be the 21st meeting between the two teams dating back to 1980. Southern Miss leads the series 13-7 against UCF. The Lady Eagles won the first 12 meetings between the two teams. UCF has won the last six meetings.
What's Next?
Following the UCF game, Southern Miss returns to the court for a 2 p.m. game against Tulane on Feb. 19 for the Pink Game.
