Southern Miss
North Carolina A&T
Women's Basketball Claims Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Title
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Senior forward Tamara Jones score 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds on her way to earning the Classic MVP as Southern Miss defeated North A&T 72-48 in the championship game of the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic Saturday night.
Southern Miss improved to 5-1 on the season while North Carolina A&T dropped to 4-2. The Lady Eagles finished the game shooting 54.9 percent from the field, outscored A&T 40-20 in the paint and 45-12 in bench points. Eight of the 10 players scored.
Junior guard Jerontay Clemons scored 10 points to go with eight rebounds and freshman Shakoa Edwards chipped in nine points and handed out five assists.
"This was probably the best game of the season for us, especially the second half," head coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "We really buckled down and played defense in half court. I thought our bench was tremendous in giving us 45 points. Defensively, I thought a lot of people did a lot of good things."
North Carolina A&T scored the first points of the game before Southern Miss used a 13-1 run in gaining a double-digit lead, 13-3. NCA&T answered with four straight points in before Clemons hit a jumper to give the Lady Eagles an eight-point lead. From there, NCA&T outscored Southern Miss 14-10 to cut the lead to three, 25-22. The Lady Eagles led 29-24 at the half.
"We had a couple of freshmen who played well tonight," McNelis said. "Megan Brown played some of the best off-side defense. Offensively, Shakoa Edwards came off the bench and gave us a big surge. She got us going on the break and created a lot of scoring opportunities for some of her teammates."
The Black and Gold opened the second on a 14-2 run and never looked back as the Lady Eagles took a 44-26 lead. The Lady Aggies connected on a three to get within 15 points, but that was as close as NCA&T would get. The Lady Eagles eventually pushed the lead to 24, getting the ball deep in the paint for the easy shots.
Southern Miss shot 57.1 percent in the second half while hold A&T to 24.2 percent shooting. The Lady Eagles also connected on 8-of-11 from the line in the second half.
Dana Brown led North Carolina A&T with 13 points while Christina Carter chipped in nine.
In the consolation game, Oral Roberts defeated Austin Peay 73-60. Vicky McIntyre pulled down a coliseum record 27 rebounds and scored 22 points.
Southern Miss returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 3, when the Lady Eagles host Tennessee Tech at 5 p.m. in a double-header with the men.
Note: All-Tournament Team - Tiasha Gray, Austin Peay; Vicky McIntyre, Oral Roberts; Christina Carter and Dana Brown, NC A&T; Jerontay Clemons and Tamara Jones, Southern Miss; Tournament MVP - Tamara Jones
