Women's Basketball Tips Off 40th Season Against William Carey
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss women's basketball team officially tip off its 40th season when the Lady Eagles host William Carey Friday morning at 11 a.m., in Education Day.
$1 Tickets for local school children attending. Also "Let's SAAC Hunger Week" continues as canned food collection points at the entrances of Reed Green. Fans that donate five canned food items or more will receive a voucher for a ticket to a game during the Lady Eagle Basketball Thanksgiving Classic.
Southern Miss is coming off a 68-59 win over West Florida in an exhibition game last Saturday. Kierra Jordan and Lashyra Cotton led the way with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Jordan also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds. Three other Lady Eagles finished with eight points, Voche' Martin, Jerontay Clemons and Markia Nix. The Lady Eagles dished out 20 assists as Alex Coyne and Brittanny Dinkins had six each.Southern Miss returns considerable experience as compared to the 2013-14 squad with 77 percent of the offense returning and 89 percent of its rebounding. Tamara Jones is the top returning scorer at 14.4 points followed by Jerontay Clemons at 11.2. Jones was the top rebounder at 6.0 while Clemons was next at 5.1 rebounds per game.
William Carey (1-2) enters the contest after playing an exhibition game at South Alabama on Monday. The Crusaders fell 58-26. Fredrikah Wilson scored a team-best 12 points. Samara Diniswayo and Wilson pace the team with 10.7 and 10.3 points per game averages. Shania Posey leads the team in rebounding at 5.7 rebounds per game. As a team, William Carey is averaging 51.0 points and 40.3 rebounds while shooting 28.1 percent from the field and 64.0 percent from the line. The Crusaders also are averaging 11.7 steals per game while forcing their opponents into 22.3 turnovers.Coach Tracy English is in his 24th season at William Carey.
Southern Miss and William Carey have played 11 times with Lady Eagles leading the overall series 10-1. The series began in 1977-78 with the teams winning at home. Southern Miss had won the last nine meetings including last season.Southern Miss will play its first road contest when the Lady Eagles travel to South Alabama on Nov. 17 in a 7:05 p.m. tip.
