Southern Miss Advances in C-USA Women's Tournament

By Julia M. Coleman:SPM FL Writer
Posted Friday, March 7, 2008

Orlando, Fla – The Conference USA tournament, hosted by the University of Central Florida at its new arena, got underway yesterday.

C-USA cellar-dweller UCF Knights gave the Southern Miss Eagles all they could handle before dropping a heart- breaker 74-72.

Southern Miss head coach Joye Lee-McNelis was concerned about playing UCF because “.. . its always hard to beat a team three times in one season.” Southern Miss placed all five starters in double-figures for the game as those starters then combined for 64 of their team's 74 total points.

Junior guard Andrea Barber was 7-8 from the line and led Southern Miss with 15 points. Barber made 5-6 free throws in the final minute as UCF refused to yield, but was forced to foul.

The Knights got huge games from their two low-post freshmen. C-USA Freshman of the Year center Tia Lewis was one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine boards in only 25 minutes. Her running mate in the paint, forward Emma Cannon, finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks. UCF also got 18 points from guard D’Nay Daniels and 12 from guard Marshay White, also freshmen.

Southern Miss took a 33-26 lead into the locker room at halftime as sophomore center Stephanie Helgeson had her way in the paint in limited minutes with four blocks and 10 points. UCF’s reserve junior center Jackie Akers nearly matched Helgeson with three blocks of her own in the first 20 minutes. Helgeson finished the night with four blocks but Akers added two more in the second half to finish with five blocks in 18 minutes.

The second half was played at a frantic pace, with UCF pressing, swiping, and deflecting. Southern Miss patiently worked the ball up the floor and around the horn for open looks. The Golden Eagles took a solid 11-point lead, 44-33 into the first media timeout, with 15 minutes left in the game.

The Knights continued to work the ball into their freshman post players. Cannon had nine offensive rebounds for the game and scored 11 points in the second half. UCF also got a big second half from Daniels, who netted 13 points in the stanza, four of them on back-to-back layups. The UCF press caused Southern Miss to turnover the ball enough to allow UCF to cut the lead from eight to four at 46-42 with 11 minutes left.

The Golden Eagles clung to a six-point lead with just over three minutes left in the game. In those final three minutes, UCF would continually knock down seemingly impossible shots, and then foul on the ensuing inbounds play, sending Southern Miss to the line.

UCF scored 13 points in the final minute of play, but the Golden Eagles' seven – all on free throws – were enough to preserve the win. Southern Miss stroked 22-24 free throws on the night.

“First of all, what a ballgame!” Southern Miss coach Lee-McNelis said after the game. “I applaud Central Florida because they battled. They battled to the bitter end.”

For UCF, the season is over, but UCF head coach Joi Williams expressed her admiration for the accomplishments of her young team. “It makes me feel great. I am excited about the future. Obviously we hated to lose the game today. We were in it to win, but we are very excited about the future of UCF Women’s Basketball.

Southern Miss takes on the Houston Cougars in a #5 vs. #4 matchup. The winner of that game will advance to Saturday's semi-finals.