Southern Miss
UAB
Lady Eagle Basketball Team Falls to UAB 62-49
1/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Southern Miss women's basketball team shot just 36.7 percent from the field including a 2-of-11 performance from behind the arc in losing to UAB Saturday afternoon by a score of 62-49.
Southern Miss drops to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in Conference USA play while UAB improved to 8-8 and 2-3.
"Hats off to UAB today," Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "They came in and shot the ball well today. The biggest difference is that their No. 1 Burroughs (Miranda) shot the cover off the basketball. She went 5-of-9 from three-point range and we did not guard her. I think we lost focus in staying true to the course to finish the game.
"We warned them about UAB having a chip on their shoulder from last season because we actually stole that game from them in Hattiesburg," McNelis said. "We did not play with a sense of urgency today. UAB had a great defensive strategy and they totally executed it and got things going their way. When we made defensive mistakes, they were able to capitalize."
Jerontay Clemons and Kierra Jordan scored 14 points each. Jordan also had a team-best six rebounds.
Both team struggled from the field in the early going until Tamara Jones connected a three to put the Lady Eagles on the scoreboard first. UAB answered with a three before Clemons scored four quick points for the Lady Eagles in taking a 7-3 lead. UAB responded with an 8-0 run for the 11-7 lead. Southern Miss cut the lead to 11-9 and that would be as close as the Lady Eagles would get for the remainder of the half. UAB built as many as a nine-point lead midway through the half, but Brittanny Dinkins kick started an 8-2 run with a three-pointer. Jordan added a three-point play and a basket underneath to cap off the run. The Blazers finished the half on a 7-2 run in taking a 32-24 into halftime.
Southern Miss drew within four points after starting the second half with a 6-2 run, but UAB continued to hit timely threes to keep the Lady Eagles at bay. Each time the Lady Eagles got within striking distance, the Blazers found the open player from behind the arc in building a double-digit lead. The Lady Eagles whittled the Blazer lead to 47-41 with just over eight minutes remaining. The Lady Eagles hit a cold shooting stretch where Southern Miss scored just one free as UAB pushed its lead to 52-42. Over the final six minutes, UAB outscored Southern Miss 10-7.
Janae Smith led all scorers with 17 points followed by Miranda Burroughs with 15 and Chelsee Black with 13. Smith also had a team-high seven rebounds.
UAB held the rebounding edge over Southern Miss, 35-30. The Lady Eagles outscored the Blazers 26-12 in the paint, but UAB offset that performance with 14 second chance points to the Lady Eagles' three.
Southern Miss returns home to host Rice and North Texas next week. The Lady Eagles will play Rice on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. followed by North Texas on Jan. 24 at 4 p.m.
