Feb. 17, 2008

Box Score

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Junior Kendra Reed scored a season-high 23 points, including 18 in the first half, in leading Southern Miss past Marshall, 77-67.

Southern Miss (15-10, 6-6) placed three other players in double-figures with Pauline Love and Amber Eugene with 14 points apiece and Andrea Barber chipped in 10.

"I thought our team responded well with the way Marshall started the game," Joye Lee-McNelis said. "I don't think I've ever called a timeout that quickly. I think we were a little shell-shocked the way they came at us, but I thought we regained our composure after that timeout."

Southern Miss opened up a 14-point lead early, 46-32, after the Lady Eagles scored six-straight points in the first 1:11 of the half. The lead grew to 15-points, 60-45, at the 9:28 mark in the half. From there, Marshall mounted a comeback that cut the Eagles' lead to just four points, 69-65, with 2:50 remaining in the game. Over a span of 6:18, the Herd out scored Southern Miss, 21-9. Southern Miss was able to capitalize on 7-of-8 free throws in the last 1:47 to seal the win.

"The unfortunately thing is that we got ourselves into foul trouble," said McNelis said. "We had some pieces of the puzzle step up for this game. Kendra Reed was hotter than a firecracker and Andrea Barber did a phenomenal job of finding her for the shot. I thought Brittany Johnson and Tanesha Washington came in and gave us some key minutes. Liz Biland stepped up particularly in crunch time. She was able to get some big rebounds for us."

Marshall (13-13, 5-7) opened the game outscoring Southern Miss, 8-2, in the first two minutes of the game. The Lady Eagles then put together an 18-7 run, capped off with a Reed 3-pointer that gave Southern Miss a 20-15 lead. King ended the run with a basket, cutting the lead to three before Southern Miss hit back-to-back treys by Reed and Barber, pushing the lead to nine, 26-17.

The Herd came roaring back, out scoring Southern Miss 9-2 to get within two, 28-26, at the 9:14 mark in the half. Both teams cooled off considerably over the last eight minutes with the Lady Eagles outscoring the Herd, 12-6, to end the half with a 40-32 lead.

Alix Barnette and Alyssa Hammond paced Marshall with 16 points apiece and Kizzy Hart added 15.

Southern Miss returns to action when the Lady Eagles host the league leader UTEP, Friday at 7 p.m., then close out the home portion of their schedule with senior day against Tulane at 2 p.m.