East Carolina University
Southern Miss
Women's Basketball Drops Heartbreaker to Southern Miss, 65-59
January 05, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2007
Southern Miss 65, East Carolina 59 (PDF)
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GREENVILLE, N.C.--Three Lady Eagles scored in double-figures to lead Southern Miss to the 65-59 win over East Carolina Friday night at Minges Coliseum. USM scored 25 of its points from the charity stripe, shooting 86.2 percent on the night, while the Lady Pirates went just 7-of-12 from the line. The loss snaps a two-game win streak for ECU, as the team falls to 6-9, 1-1 in Conference USA games. Southern Miss improves to 8-7, 2-0 in league play.
Cherie Mills scored the first points of the game, giving the Lady Pirates the early 2-0 lead before a Amber Eugene basket tied the contest at the 19:18 mark. Mills' three point play on the next possession put ECU back on top 5-2, but Southern Miss scored four unanswered points to take its first lead of the game, 7-5, with 16:45 on the clock. An Impris Manning layup ended a 5-0 USM run, cutting the Lady Eagles lead to four, 12-8. Back to back layups by Mills tied the game at 12 a piece with 12:06 to play in the half. Manning's layup from LaCoya Terry gave the Lady Pirates the 14-12 lead, forcing a Southern Miss timeout. Gabriela Husarova's three-pointer at the 10:04 mark extended ECU's lead to five, 17-12. Eugene's three-point play with 5:05 to play cut the Lady Pirate lead to three, 24-21. Emer Foley's free throw with 3:25 on the clock tied the game at 24-24, while Kendra Reed's putback on the next possession gave the Lady Eagles the 26-24 lead. Alicia Person's jumper knotted the game once again, this time at 26 all, but Reed's three-pointer put USM back on top. The Lady Eagles took a three point lead on a pair of Kristen Chaney free throws with less than two minutes to play in the opening half. Two more free throws by Chaney extended the Southern Miss lead to five, 33-28. Eugene's free throws with seven seconds on the clock made the half time score 35-28 in favor of the Lady Eagles.
Eugene led all scorers with 13 at the break while Mills led ECU with 11. USM's Reed added 10 at the break. The Lady Pirates shot 35.3 percent in the opening half and grabbed 25 rebounds.
East Carolina pulled to within four, 40-36, on a Jasmine Young layup with 15:09 on the clock. Terry's putback at the 12:02 mark cut the Southern Miss lead to one, 42-41. Liz Biland's free throws with under eight to play in the game put the Lady Eagles up by four, 47-43. Manning's fast break layup with 6:50 to play ended a five minute field goal drought for either team, making the score 49-45. Reed's jumper at the 6:23 mark snapped an eight minute field goal drought for the Lady Eagles, and increased their lead to six, 51-45. An offensive foul by USM and a layup by Mills cut the Lady Eagle lead to one, 51-50, with 4:45 to play in the game. Foley's jumper gave Southern Miss the three point lead, but a putback by Mills of a Young three point attempt pulled ECU back within one, 53-52 with 3:45 remaining. Reed sank a trey on the next play, giving the Lady Eagles the four point edge with under three to play. Mills' layup with 1:40 to play tied the game at 56-56, but Southern Miss retook the lead on the next possession, on a Eugene basket. A Foley free throw extended the USM lead to three with 28.6 seconds to play, while Chaney's free throws gave the Lady Eagles the five point, 61-56 lead with 20 seconds to play. Slack's trey with 7.6 seconds remaining pulled the Lady Pirates within four, 63-59. East Carolina could not get any closer, as the Lady Eagles pulled out the 65-59 win.
Eugene led all scorers with 20, with eight points coming from the free throw line. Reed added 17 points while Biland chipped in 10. Mills led the Lady Pirates with 20 points and a career-tying four blocks. Manning also scored in double figures, with 10 on the night. ECU shot 40.3 percent on the night compared to USM's 32.7 percent.
East Carolina returns to Minges Coliseum this Sunday as it hosts UCF in the final contest of a four-game home stand for the Lady Pirates. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
