Southern Miss Shoots Past Marshall 77-51 in Women's Basketball Action

Feb. 2, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Pauline Love tied a season-high point total with 24, while three other Southern Miss players scored in double figures as the Lady Eagles defeated Marshall 77-51 here Saturday night in a Conference USA women's basketball game at Reed Green Coliseum.

The Lady Eagles (12-9 overall, 3-5 C-USA) won for the second time in the last three games, as they scored over 70 points for the third-straight game.

"We handled their pressure very well tonight," said Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis, who team committed just 13 turnovers. "It was a great team effort for us."

Love reached the 20-point plateau for the eighth time this season, tying her career mark that she initially set against Sam Houston State (Nov. 9) in the season opener.

Joining Love in double figures for the Lady Eagles was Stephanie Helgeson with 17 points, along with 12 from Amber Eugene and 10 from Kendra Reed. Andrea Barber added nine assists for the home squad.

The Lady Eagles shot over 60 percent for the second time this season as they converted 27-of-44 shots on the floor for 61.4 percent and made 76 percent of their free throws (19-of-25).

"We shared the ball very well," McNelis added. "I hope this is jump start for us."

After allowing the opening basket to MU, the Lady Eagles scored the next seven points and ended a six-minute spurt on a 16-3 run to push open a double-digit advantage.

The Thundering Herd cut the deficit to under 10 points four times and got as close as 21-14 with 8:22 remaining in the opening period, but Reed hit one of her game-high three 3-pointers and the lead never got under double figures for the remainder of the game.

After taking a 42-23 lead at intermission, Southern Miss led by as many as 31 points over the final 20 minutes to notch their ninth home victory of the campaign.

Alyssa Hammond led the Thundering Herd (12-10, 4-4) with 17 points, while Kizzy Hart added 11.

Southern Miss returns to action next Thursday (Feb. 7) when they entertain Memphis in a 7 p.m., contest at Green Coliseum.