University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
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UTEP
Lady Eagles Upend UTEP 79-68
1/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2017
EL PASO, Texas -- The Lady Eagles, led by Senior Brittanny Dinkins's career-high 29 points, defeated UTEP 79-68 Saturday afternoon. This is the second time in three years that the Lady Eagles have swept the UTEP/UTSA road trip and the third win in El Paso in the last four trips.
Dinkins also passed Renee Magee to become the nineteenth all-time leading scorer in Lady Eagle history. Her previous career-high of 28 was set in her first appearance as a Lady Eagle in 2013 against West Alabama.
"I wish our Southern Miss fans could've been here for this game because we played as a team," said head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "We made the extra pass. We were extremely unselfish offensively. It was really fun to watch. I can't tell you how proud I am of how much we shared the basketball. The heavy offensive play of Shonte Hailes proves that she has a chance to be big. We won the ball game because Shonte Hailes was directing our offense. Defensively, I am going to give credit to Respect Leaphart and Megan Brown. They stepped in and sacrificed their bodies with some charges. They did a tremendous job.
Megan Brown, who coach McNelis calls Steady Eddie, was the Lady Eagles second leading scorer with 11 total points and was key for Southern Miss, especially when the shot clock was winding down. Freshman Shonte Hailes collected her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Freshman has had double-digit scoring figures in four straight games and her assists tied the most by any Lady Eagle so far this season. Her assist figure also doubled her previous career-high mark.
"Today we had to lock in," Dinkins said. "We had an opportunity for a road trip sweep and we took advantage of it. We got back to holding each other accountable and creating an atmosphere of positivity. That got us back on rhythm to where we are now."
The Lady Eagles travel back to Hattiesburg and will have their first home C-USA matchup of the season against Old Dominion on Thursday night. Tickets can be purchased online at SouthernMissTickets.com, or by calling the Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) as well as visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Center.
