Southern Miss
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UTEP
Lady Eagle Hoops Outlast UTEP 66-60
3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
EL PASO, Texas - The Southern Miss women's basketball team used a 13-1 over a span of 7:54 in the second half in helping to secure a 66-60 win over UTEP in Conference USA action Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Eagles winners of eight of their last nine games improved to 20-8 overall and 13-4 in league play. This is the 14th, 20-win season for the Lady Eagles including back-to-back season. UTEP fell to 11-14 and 6-10.
"Brooke Rhodes three-ball gave us some momentum going into half," head coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "We were running a set down that stretch and we were successful. Jerontay Clemons made some great plays coming off that set. That was huge for us to give us some confidence going in.
"You have to give UTEP credit," McNelis said. "Defensively, they did a great job defending us. Our offenses broke down multiple times because we didn't set the proper screen or we had one player running one offense. During that stretch, we were able to win that segment. We remain our players that we are playing a four-minute game. We felt like it was very important to focus on the four-minute segments. Our execution was very good. We were able to get shots from different players."
Jerontay Clemons became the 23rd member of the 1,000-point club with her first basket of the game at the 18:11 mark in the first half. She finished the game with 12 points while Tamara Jones led all scorers with a game-high 25 points. Voche' Martin pulled down 10 rebounds. Kierra Jordan chipped in nine points.
"I told our team we needed to take advantage of our offensive rebounding," said McNelis. "That's been our weakness, but today we made a conscience effort to rebound."
UTEP took the early lead to start the game before Southern Miss used a 9-0 run to take an 11-6 lead. The teams battled back and forth for the next six minutes, fighting to a 20-20 tie. Then, UTEP outscored the Lady Eagle 6-1 to take a 26-21 lead. The Lady Eagles made a run in cutting the lead to 29-28, but UTEP answered each run. UTEP was leading 37-32 with 32 second remaining before the half when Brooke Rhodes hit a big three to cut the lead to 37-35 heading into the half.
Southern Miss opened the second half scoring four quick points. UTEP regained the lead on a three, but Jones got loose for a layup for the 41-40 lead. Both teams hit a cold period that last 3:05. UTEP edged ahead 44-41 with back-to-back baskets. Martin then hit one-of-two free throws and added a basket in igniting the 13-1 run. Jones capped the run with back-to-back threes from well beyond the arc for a 54-47 lead. UTEP answered with a 12-5 run to cut the lead to two with 1:39 remaining. The Lady Eagles made just three-of-six free throws allowing the Miners opportunities to cut into the lead. UTEP hit a three to get within 62-60 with 1:01 remaining. Clemons made one-of-two from the line before Martin came up with a steal that led to a Jones layup with just 14 seconds remaining. Jones completed the three-point play in giving Southern Miss the 66-60 win.
Cameasha Tuner led the Miners with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Lawna Kennedy added nine points.
Southern Miss finished the game shooting 43.9 percent while holding UTEP to 28.8 percent for the game. The Lady Eagles held the rebounding edge, 48-39, and outscored UTEP 36-20 on points in the paint.
Southern Miss will conclude regular season play at home when the Lady Eagles host Louisiana Tech on Mar. 7 at 4 p.m. The three seniors - Jones, Martin and Rhodes - will be honored in a postgame ceremony.
