Southern Miss Comes Up Short, Falls to Belmont

NCAA D1 Mid-Major Conferences Thursday, December 17th, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Southern Miss women’s basketball team placed five players in double figure scoring but it was enough as the Lady Eagles fell to Belmont, 73-64, Wednesday night.

“I thought the play of Kassietta got us back in the game in the second half,” Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. “We have to go to a better job of getting the ball to our post players in good scoring position. But our post players also have to be able to put the ball in the basket. We have to give Belmont credit because they didn’t panic when we started out comeback and they made some big shots down the stretch.”

Tanesha Washington led the way with 13 points followed by Robin Murphy and Pauline Love with 11 points apiece and Erin Gatling and Kassietta Brown chipped in 10 points each. Love just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.

Southern Miss battled back in the second half and cut the lead to just two points, 63-61, with 3:08 remaining in the game when Belmont scored five unanswered points to push the lead to seven with 1:28 remaining. The Lady Eagles scored its final basket with 1:02 remaining to cut the lead to five, 68-63, but Belmont’s Kristin Bunch hit a three-pointer as the shot clocked was winding down to seal the win.

Both teams got off to a slow start, scoring just six points in the first 5:16 of the game as both teams struggled to get into an offensive flow. Following four ties in the early going, Southern Miss outscored Belmont 8-0 over two minutes to take a 17-9 lead. The Bruins then used an 11-2 run to take a 20-19 lead. Southern Miss answered with a bucket by Washington to give the Eagles a 21-20 lead. From there, Belmont quickly scored four consecutive points in taking a three-point advantage, before Washington connected on an old fashioned three-point play to tie the game for the fifth time in the half. Belmont closed out the half 7-3 run for a 31-27 lead at the half.

Haley Nelson and Amber Rockwell led Belmont with 16 points apiece with Shaunda Strayhorn scoring 13 and Cacy Burtnett chipping in 10.

The Bruins outshot the Eagles, 45.3 percent to 37.1 percent and also held a rebounding edge, 43-33.

Southern Miss will be back in action when the Lady Eagles host UALR on Dec. 22 in Reed Green Coliseum. Game time is set for 7 p.m.