Southern Miss
Nicholls
Lady Eagle Basketball Runs Past Nicholls 89-57
12/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
THIBODAUX, La. - The Southern Miss women's basketball team shot 61.8 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting 52.2 percent in defeating Nicholls 89-57 in the final non-conference game of 2014.
Southern Miss snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-4 while Nicholls dropped to 4-7.
"This was a solid all-around basketball game for us," Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "It was probably one of the most complete games that we've played. I've been really proud of how many extra shots they have put up. It was very evident in the way it showed tonight.
"When you look at the game as a whole, there were a lot of bright spots," McNelis said. "Tamara Jones stepped up and played with a lot of confidence. I'm just going to say welcome back Brittanny Dinkins. She has struggled in the first 10 games, but she has practiced well. She's just been a sophomore slump, but tonight she came back with a renewed attitude and work ethic. Alex Coyne played well and controlled this offense. I thought our half-court defense and our full-court defense was very good."
All but one player scored two or more points as Tamara Jones led the way a game-high 33 points while Brittanny Dinkins added 18 points for the Lady Eagles. Alex Coyne dished out eight assists while Dinkins had six assists. Jerontay Clemons came off the bench to grab a team-best seven rebounds.
Jones put the Lady Eagles on the board first, hitting one of two free throws. Nicholls answered with a three-pointer to take the lead. From there, Jones sparked an 11-3 run as she scored nine of the points including seven straight for the 12-6 lead. Nicholls added a three and a pair of free throws in cutting the lead to 12-10. Lashyra Cotton grabbed a steal underneath and scored a basket, igniting a 9-0 run.
Nicholls' Jenny Nash added a pair of threes in getting the margin to single digits with 10 before the half. The Lady Eagles pushed their lead back to double digits following eight straight points. Nicholls then scored the next six points, but Southern Miss ended the half on a 9-3 run for the 39-25 lead at the half.
The teams opened the second half trading baskets for the first two minutes before the Lady Eagles used a 10-4 run in taking a 53-33 lead. For the next six minutes the team played evenly until Southern Miss used a 12-2 run over a three-minute span to put the game out of reach.
Nash led Nicholls with 19 points and Ekiya Gray chipped in 10 points.
Southern Miss won the battle on the boards 44-34. The Lady Eagles forced the Colonels into 27 turnovers and scored 28 and had 36 points in the paint.
Southern Miss opens Conference USA play on Jan. 4 when the Lady Eagles travel to Ruston, La., to face Louisiana Tech in a 3 p.m. tip.
