March 25, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Sophomore forward Pauline Love drained a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 2.3 seconds remaining to complete a second-half comeback for Southern Miss and the Lady Eagles tallied a 62-61 Women's National Invitation Tournament victory over in-state foe Mississippi State here Monday night at Reed Green Coliseum.

2008 WNIT BRACKET

"We did not draw it up that away," said Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "I have to give Pauline credit for seeing an opportunity, but we will definitely take the basket."

The second-round win propelled the Lady Eagles (21-13) to the WNIT Sweet 16. They will play Michigan, Thursday, who also won Monday night over Virginia Commonwealth, 75-57. Southern Miss will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for a 6 p.m. CT game.

Southern Miss used full-court pressure over the last 10 minutes of the contest which allowed the Lady Eagles to overcome a huge second-half deficit.

Love led four Lady Eagles with 18 points, while Kendra Reed added 15 points, Stephanie Helgeson tallied 13 and Liz Biland notched 10.

Down 32-26 at intermission, MSU (16-15) built its advantage to 15 points at 55-40 after a Miayorka Johnson bucket with 10:07 to play.

"In the second half we made some adjustments and begin to chip away at the lead," said Lee-McNelis. "We starting taking care of the ball and rebounding, especially in the final two minutes of the game."

After Lady Bulldog Marneshia Richard hit a jumper with 5:45 to play to make the score 58-50, that ended a 10-1 run for the Lady Eagles.

The Lady Eagles then scored nine of the next 10 points as Reed nailed a 3-pointer to cut the gap to two with 2:59 left and then Helgeson added a basket in the paint on a pass from Biland with 1:19 to play to tie the score at 59-59.

MSU, behind Johnson, who finished the game with 11 points for the Lady Bulldogs, then retook the advantage again with 12 ticks left on a nifty move in the lane for a layup to give the visitors the two-point cushion. Other leading scorers for MSU were Richard with 12 points, while Imesia Jackson notched 11.

On the Lady Eagles final possession, they pushed it down the floor and called timeout. After the discussion on the bench, Southern Miss got Love the ball at the top of the key and she nailed the 3-pointer from 21 feet to win the game. MSU's last second desperation attempt did not get close to the basket.

"I was really proud of my girls," said MSU coach Sharon Fanning. "We battled hard for 40 minutes. Nobody likes to lose like that. Somebody has to win and somebody has to lose - that is just the way it goes."

The Lady Eagles shot 46.4 percent in the second half, converting 13-of-28 shots over the final 20 minutes.

The win avenged an earlier season loss to the Lady Bulldogs as MSU tallied a 77-56 November victory in Starkville.