Lady Eagles Host Memphis For National Girls and Women In Sports Day :: The team will be outfitted in white jerseys with pink numbers outlined in black, have pink shoe strings and pink head bands.

The team will be outfitted in white jerseys with pink numbers outlined in black, have pink shoe strings and pink head bands.

Feb. 6, 2008

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss women's basketball team will be donning the 'pink' this week's game against Memphis on Thursday at 7 p.m., as part of the "Think Pink" initiative promotion by the WBCA. The team will be outfitted in white jerseys with pink numbers outlined in black, have pink shoe strings and pink head bands.

The game will be broadcasted over WXHB-FM 96.5 with the "Voice of the Lady Eagles" Jason Baker providing play-by-play action with former coach Kay James as the color analyst.

Southern Miss (12-9, 3-5) comes into the game, following 77-51 win over Marshall. In that game, Southern Miss shot a blistering 61.4 percent from the field and placed four players in double figure scoring with Pauline Love's 24 points, followed by Stephanie Helgeson with 17, Amber Eugene added 13 and Kendra Reed chipped in 10. Andrea Barber dished out nine assists.

Love continues to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.6 and 10.9, respectively, while Reed is next at 11.0, followed by Helgeson at 10.7 and Eugene at 10.0. Barber leads the team in assists with 6.4 per game. She is one of three players in the league with 100 or more assists on the season.

As a team, the Lady Eagles are averaging 73.2 points and 40.3 rebounds, while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 76.8 percent from the line. Southern Miss has connected on 113-of-314 threes for 36.0 percent.

Memphis (6-15, 3-5) is coming off a 62-56 win over Rice, in which the Lady Tigers out scored Rice 38-31 in the second half. Jessica Hall led the way for Memphis with 18 points, followed by Aroha Jennings with 15 and Paris Leonard added 10. Ashley Thornton hauled in 10 rebounds.

Coach Blair Savage-Lansden is in her fourth season with the Lady Tiger program as the head, but also served as an assistant there for nine seasons under Southern Miss current coach Joye Lee-McNelis. Memphis snapped a three-game losing streak with the win over Rice. Savage returned seven letterwinners from last year's team, but added seven newcomers to the squad and two new assistant coaches. Two former players will join Savage on her staff, Jennifer Sullivan and LaTonya Johnson. The Lady Tigers open a three-game road swing at Southern Miss, before heading to UCF and SMU.

Leonard and Hall lead the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points apiece, while Thornton leads the team in rebounding at 7.0 rebounds per game.

As a team, the Lady Tigers are averaging 67.1 points and 39.1 rebounds, while shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 65.6 percent from the line.

This is the 44th meeting between the two teams. Memphis leads the series 23-20. The Lady Eagles have won five out of the last seven meeting, including the last four.

Following the Memphis game, Southern Miss concludes its five-game homestand, hosting UAB for its "Think Pink" game Saturday at 5 p.m.