Southern Miss
Tulane
Lady Eagles Mount Comeback Win against Tulane
11/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2017
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss women's basketball, thanks to lock down defense, overcame a double-digit deficit to takedown Tulane 66-58.
"What a great ball game to watch this team grown up in," said Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "There's a lot of things that could happen when you're down that much and you have a young basketball team. You can tank it and struggle because you don't know what to do, but we did a tremendous job fighting tooth and nail, and clawing back to take the lead. That shows that we're growing up. That's important."
Tulane took its largest lead of the night at 17-6 with 2:52 remaining in the first quarter, en route to a 22-12 lead at the first break. It was a 15-3 run over the first eight minutes in the second that put the Lady Eagles ahead for good.
The Green Wave broke the run on a jumper, but wasn't able to get much more during the quarter as Southern Miss held Tulane to five total points in the second frame of play.
"We got to keep the momentum up and we can't let it fall," said Jayla King. "This win helps our newcomers keep their head high and helps us have high momentum going into our game on Thursday."
King played 37 minutes, one shy of tying her career-high, and gathered a 12 point, 11 rebound double-double. The Pensacola, Florida native's double-double is the seventh of her career and the first of the season.
"Coach playing me that much tells me that I need to step up and make something happen every play," King said. "It speaks volumes to me that she looks to me to get it done on the court.
Shonte Hailes dropped a game-high 22 points, the second most she has scored in her young career, and went eight-of-15 from the field, a new career-high in makes and attempts.
"It was a big win," Hailes said. "The momentum is with us now. We have a lot of growing to do, like Coach said. When we do all that growing we'll be better than we were tonight. Coach is depending on Jayla and I. We got down and said to ourselves, `Play time is over.' We got the girls together, our whole team defended and that's what got us back in the ball game."
Southern Miss remains at home Thursday for a 6 p.m. contest against Mississippi Valley State. 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. With the pregame show starting 30 minutes prior tip, the game can be heard on WFOR 1400 AM The Score.
