University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Florida Atlantic
Hot Shooting Lady Eagles Take Down Owls 89-80
1/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss women's basketball team placed six players in double figures and shot an incredible 62.1 percent from the field in getting past Florida Atlantic 89-80 in Conference USA action Thursday night in front of a national audience.
Southern Miss snapped a two-game skid and improved to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in league play while FAU dropped to 10-5 and 2-2.
"What a basketball game," head coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "FAU comes in here and they are very good. They shoot their 30 threes. The average taking 30 threes and they average making 10 and they made 12. If you had told me that would have happened and we won the game, I would have said you were crazy. In particular with us turning the ball over 23 times.
"The biggest thing tonight is that we got in rhythm early and we played with some confidence," McNelis said. "Having six players in double figures is huge because it creates for us opportunities to be able to score in multiple ways. A huge jolt off the bench for us was Lashyra Cotton and Jerontay Clemons. Lashyra hits some big shots right in the belly of the paint. I thought Jerontay came in and gave us some great defense. Caitlin Jenkins again, double-double. She continues to score the basketball and continues to rebound. We didn't get the ball to her as much as we would have like, but I contribute that to FAU's defense. I thought they did a good job of guarding her."
Brittanny Dinkins led the Lady Eagle attack with 20 points followed by Brittny Norris with 17. Caitlin Jenkins recorded a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds, Keri Jewett-Giles had 13 and Jerontay Clemons and Lashyra Cotton chipped in 10 points apiece.
Southern Miss shot 50 percent or better in each of the quarters including 75 percent in the third. The Lady Eagles also won the battle of the boards, out rebounding the Owls 41 to 32 while scoring 42 points in the paint to FAU's 22.
Southern Miss and Florida Atlantic started the game at a furious pace as both teams matched shot for shot. FAU took an 11-8 lead with a layup and added a free throw in completing a three-point play. Cotton and Jewett connected on back-to-back baskets for the 12-11 lead. Following an Owl basket, Southern Miss used a 12-5 run in taking a 24-18 lead. FAU battled back to cut the lead to 26-25 by the quarters' end.
The teams traded baskets to start the second quarter over the first 3:50. From there, Southern Miss scored eight unanswered points to run its lead to 42-35. Southern Miss held strong and led 48-41 at the half. The Lady Eagles shot 52.4 percent in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles got a quick basket out of the half to push the lead to nine points. However, FAU would not got quietly as the Owls began chipping away at the Lady Eagle lead, hitting timely buckets. FAU cut the lead to four points on two occasions before the Lady Eagles put together an 11-3 run to push the lead to double digits. Southern Miss led 70-56 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lady Eagles scored 10 points in the first 2:40 to start the final period, then suffered through a 5:42 drought before Norris hit a pair of free throws to snap with 1:38 remaining in the game. Southern Miss saw its lead dwindle to seven points before Jenkins hit a basket with only 20 seconds remaining. Norris scored the final points with a pair free throws.
Ali Gorrell led all scorers with a game-high 25 points and Sasha Cedeno added 14 points. FAU connected on 12 of 31 from behind the arc.
Southern Miss will concluded its homestand against FIU on Saturday at 4 p.m. The first 500 fans to Saturday's 4 p.m. contest against FIU will receive a one-of-a-kind replica rally towel of the Reed Green Coliseum court. It will also be Kids Day in Reed Green as all children ages 12 and under receive Free Admission to the game. Please visit the Reed Green Box Office to receive your complimentary youth ticket prior to entering the facility.
