Southern Miss rallies past Lady Lions, 59-52

HAMMOND, La. – Southern Miss erased an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to rally past Southeastern Louisiana for a 59-52 victory in the Lady Lions’ non-conference home finale Thursday evening in the University Center.

Southeastern (5-5) led by many as 12 in the second half, but couldn’t hold off a fourth-quarter barrage by the visitors. The Golden Eagles, playing the Lady Lions for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign, improved to 8-4 with the come-from-behind victory.

The Lady Lions’ defense was smothering through the first 30 minutes of Thursday’s contest. Southern Miss opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run and never looked back on the way to outscoring SLU, 27-9, in the final period.

Celica Sterling led Southeastern with 10 points, while Caitlyn Williams and Morgan Carrier chipped in with nine points apiece. Williams also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Lady Lions. Jaclyn Scholvin paced SLU with three assists and three steals.

Southern Miss was led by Kelsey Jones, who scored a game-high 17 points off the bench. Jones was one of three Golden Eagles in double figures, along with Megan Brown and Camille Anderson with 16 and 14 points, respectively.

The first half was a defensive stalemate, as the two teams combined to shoot 20 percent (10-for-50) over the first 20 minutes. Southern Miss went into the break with a scant 16-14 lead.

Southeastern reversed its fortunes in the third quarter, as the Lady Lions shot 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from the floor, including 5-for-5 from behind the arc. SLU stretched its lead to as many as 12. A three at the buzzer by Charliee Dugas sent the Lady Lions into the break with a comfortable 43-32 lead.

As hot as Southeastern was in the third quarter, there was a lid on the Lady Lion bucket over the final 10 minutes. USM held SLU to 20.0 percent (2-for-10) shooting in the final quarter.

A Jones bucket gave Southern Miss its first lead since early in the second half with 3:44 left. The Golden Eagles, who shot 63.6 (7-for-11) percent from the floor in the fourth quarter, outscored Southeastern, 10-4, the rest of the way to get out of Hammond with the comeback victory.

Southeastern will take a week off for Christmas, before traveling to LSU for the non-conference finale on Dec. 27 at 6:30 p.m. in Baton Rouge.

The SLU-LSU game will be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the Lions Game Day Experience, TuneIn Radio and RadioFX apps. The contest will also air on SEC Network+.

Southern Miss 59 (8-4)
Gavin 0-0 0-0 0, Leaphart 0-5 2-2 2, Almond 1-2 2-4 4, Brown 5-11 4-4 16, Mayze 2-4 0-0 4, Anderson 4-8 3-4 14, Kennedy 0-4 0-0 0, Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Landing 1-3 0-0 2, Jones 5-7 7-9 17. Totals 18-45 18-23 59.
Southeastern Louisiana 52 (5-5)
K. Williams 0-3 3-4 3, C. Williams 3-9 3-6 9, Sterling 4-13 0-1 10, Scholvin 2-8 2-2 7, Morrison 1-3 5-5 7, Carrier 3-7 0-0 9, Dugas 2-7 0-0 5, Jubril 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 15-50 15-20 52.
End of 1st Quarter – SLU 8, USM 7. Halftime – USM 16, SLU 14. End of 3rd Quarter – SLU 43, USM 32. 3-point goals – USM 5-15 (Anderson 3-7, Brown 2-4, Kennedy 0-3, Leaphart 0-1), SLU 7-25 (Carrier 3-6, Sterling 2-8, Scholvin 1-6, C. Williams 0-1, Morrison 0-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – C. Williams, K. Williams. Rebounds – USM 41 (Anderson, Jones 7), SLU 28 (C. Williams 7). Assists – USM 10 (Almond, Brown 4), SLU 9 (Scholvin 3). Total Fouls – USM 20, SLU 19. A – 463.