University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagle Hoops Conclude Road Swing at Western Kentucky
1/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Lady Eagle basketball team concludes their two-game road swing with a visit to Western Kentucky on Jan. 31 at 2 p.m.
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.
Southern Miss Preview
The Lady Eagles (12-7, 5-3) are coming off a 67-65 loss at Marshall on Thursday evening. Tamara Jones led Southern Miss with a game-high 20 points followed by Brooke Rhodes with 17 and Jerontay Clemons added 14 points. Rhodes and Clemons grabbed a team-best eight rebounds each.
Jones leads the team in scoring with 16.5 points while adding 6.2 rebounds per game. She ranks in eighth in the Conference USA in scoring and seventh in field goal percentage including eighth in three-point field goal percentage. Clemons is next at 12.2 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game.
Kierra Jordan contributes 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds. She is seventh in the league in field goal percentage, hitting 51.5 percent from the floor. Rhodes adds 8.3 points and is leading the league in three-point field goal percentage and fourth in 3-point field goals made in C-USA.
The Lady Eagles are averaging 69.0 points on 45.2 percent shooting from the field and 37.2 rebounds per game. Southern Miss ranks second in field percentage while leading the league in three-point field goal percentage. The Lady Eagles rank second field goal percentage defense. The Lady Eagles have connected on 107-of-278 from behind the arc.
Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis is in her 11th season at the helm of the Lady Eagle program and her 24th season as a head coach.
A Look at Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky enters today's contest with an 18-3 record overall and 7-1 in Conference USA. The Hilltoppers defeated Louisiana Tech Thursday night, 82-66, as WKU shot a blistering 82.6 percent in the second half to finish the game shooting 60.8 percent from the field. Chastity Gooch and Alexis Govan combined for 45 points, 24 and 21, respectively, to lead the Hilltoppers in scoring. Kendall Noble chipped in 11 points. Govan also had a team-best eight rebounds.
Gooch is averaging 17.3 points while Govan is right behind at 17.2 per game. Two other Hilltoppers are averaging in double figures with Noble at 11.0 and Micah Jones at 10.5 points per contest. Noble and Gooch lead the team in rebounding 7.6 and 7.5 rebounds, respectively, per game.
WKU is averaging a league-leading 78.6 points per game while allowing 62.0 points. The Hilltoppers are connecting on 46.2 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from three, while allowing 37.8 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from beyond the arc. Western Kentucky is pulling down 40.0 rebounds per game.
Series Notes: Southern Miss vs. Western Kentucky
This is the second meeting between the two teams. Southern Miss won the initial meeting in Hattiesburg in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1994.
Next Up
Following the Western Kentucky game, Southern Miss returns to friendly confines of Reed Green Coliseum to Middle Tennessee on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m., followed by a Saturday match-up against UAB at 4 p.m.
