The Southern Miss women’s basketball team (12-8, C-USA 4-2) overcame a slow start at Reed Green Coliseum, knocking off the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners (3-17, C-USA 1-7) 83-60. The Lady Eagles currently sit in fourth place in Conference USA.
The Roadrunners jumped out to a five-point lead only two minutes into the first quarter. UTSA used a fast-paced transition offense throughout the opening quarter and offensive rebounding to keep Southern Miss on its heels.
The game stayed close the entire second quarter. Neither team took a lead of more than two points while 11 lead changes occurred.
Senior Megan Brown led the Lady Eagles in the half with six points, two rebounds and an assist.
“I thought the second-half was something we could walk away and be proud of,” Head Coach Joy Lee-McNelis said. “We had a lot of players score a lot of buckets in that second half.”
The Lady Eagles opened up the second-half with more urgency, turning five consecutive Roadrunner possessions into five turnovers and eight points and giving Southern Miss a sevenpoint second-half lead. The Lady Eagles’ aggressive defense forced UTSA to claim two of its timeouts early in the half.
The sixth Roadrunner turnover in seven possessions turned into a Hannah Lott three-pointer and a 10-point Southern Miss lead with seven minutes left to play in the third quarter.
“I think that was a momentum changer, Hannah does that a lot for us,” Brown said. “Knocking down the three balls and changing the momentum. The first half was rough, but I’m gonna be honest with you, halftime was rougher for us.”
The Lady Eagles’ defense woke up and took over the game in the third quarter. Southern Miss poured on 30 points, sparked largely by turnovers, in the third period and took a 17-point lead into the fourth, 62-45.
The early second-half surge was too much for the Roadrunners to overcome as the Lady Eagles continued to find the basket and increase their lead in the fourth quarter to 23, 69-46.
Brown led the Lady Eagles the rest of the way finishing the contest with 19 points, six rebounds and an assist.
Southern Miss travels to Rice on Feb. 1 with tip off set for 7 p.m.
