March 20, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss made a triumphant return to the postseason here Thursday night behind 17 points from Stephanie Helgeson to beat Arkansas-Little Rock 67-57 in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

It was the first postseason appearance since the 2000 WNIT for the Lady Eagles and the first tournament win since defeating Utah 74-66 in the 1996 NCAA regional in Ruston, La.

Kendra Reed added 12 points, Tanesha Washington tallied 11 points and Amber Eugene had 10 points for the Lady Eagles, as Southern Miss (20-13) posted its first 20-win season since the 1995-96 team finished 22-8.

With a four-point lead at intermission, Southern Miss used an 8-2 run over almost the first two minutes to push the advantage to double digits at 40-30. The Trojans cut the deficit to nine - twice over the next minute - but a Eugene jumper at the 15:58 mark gave the home team a double-figure lead for the remainder of the contest.

"Coming out of the locker room we talked about how critical it is that we get off to a very good start in the second half," said Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "I thought the team really shoved it into overdrive and that's probably when the game was won, from the time between halftime and the first media time out."

Southern Miss also scored 28 of its 35 points in the paint during the second half as Helgeson helped spearheaded that assault with 14 of her game-high total in the second half, as she finished the night hitting all seven of her shots from the floor - including a 3-pointer - and both of her free throws. She also added eight rebounds.

"She played very well tonight and that's what she is capable of doing," McNelis added. "She even showed she could shoot the three tonight. You saw her diving and really going in with some force and making some things happen. I think we saw how good she can potentially be."

In a half that saw five ties and nine lead changes, the Lady Eagles scored seven of the final nine points of the first half. Washington, who scored 11 points over the first 20 minutes, scored four of the seven USM points down the stretch as Southern Miss took a 32-28 lead into intermission.

Chastity Reed paced the Trojan attack with 14 points, while Anshel Cooper added 13, Kim Stizmann notched 11 and Taisja Jones contributed 10. UALR ended its season 23-9.

Southern Miss returns to action Monday when they play host to Mississippi State in a 7 p.m., game at Green Coliseum. For tickets, the Southern Miss Athletic Ticket Office in the Ferlise Center will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Friday, and they are available now and 24 hours-a-day online at SouthernMiss.com.