University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagle Basketball Travels to Middle Tennessee
2/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss women's basketball team continues its road swing, traveling to Middle Tennessee for a 5 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.
Southern Miss Preview
The Lady Eagles (12-10, 5-6) are coming off a 53-49 loss at UAB. Brittny Norris led the way with 12 points while Keri Jewett-Giles and Brittanny Dinkins added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Southern Miss was held to just two points in the second quarter. Caitlin Jenkins pulled down nine rebounds.
Jenkins continues to lead the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Dinkins is next as she adds 10.2 points. Jayla King adds 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds. Dinkins and Jewett-Giles are handing out 3.6 and 3.5 assists per game.
Southern Miss is averaging 61.0 points and 37.6 rebounds per game while shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 64.0 percent from the line. The Lady Eagles are giving up 59.3 points on 39.1 percent shooting.
A Look at Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee (16-7, 10-2) is coming off a 68-57 win over Louisiana Tech on Feb. 11 and riding a seven-game winning streak. Brea Edwards led the way with a game-high 31 points to go with 11 rebounds. Ty Petty added 12 points, five assists and six steals and Abbey Sissom chipped in 10 points.
In his 11th season at Middle Tennessee, Head Coach Rick Insell returned eight letterwinners from last season's squad and welcomed five newcomers.
Edwards leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 19.0 points per game while Petty is next 12.1 points and 5.3 assists. Alex Johnson adds 10.7 points per game.
The Blue Raiders are averaging 69.7 points and 37.5 rebounds per game while shooting 41.0 percent from the field and 72.3 percent from the line.
Series Record
This is the eighth meeting between the two teams and Southern Miss leads the series at 5-2. The first time the two teams met was Dec. 15, 1977 with the Blue Raiders winning in overtime. The Lady Eagles played Middle Tennessee again on Dec. 17, 1979, in Hattiesburg with a win. The teams split in 2013-14 with the Lady Eagles winning in Hattiesburg while the Blue Raiders claimed the victory in the finals of the Conference USA Championship. Last season, Southern Miss won all three matchups including a win in the C-USA Tournament.
Next Up
Following the Middle Tennessee game, the Lady Eagles return home to host league leading UTEP on Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. for the annual Pink Game.
