HATTIESBURG, Miss. ? A furious second-half rally fell just short as Austin Peay State University women's basketball team dropped a 76-65 decision to Southern Miss in the championship game of the Lady Eagle Classic, Saturday night.
Southern Miss (6-0) scored the second half's first four points and held a 20-point, 43-23, advantage just 45 seconds into the frame. However, Austin Peay went on an 18-2 run ? including 14 consecutive points ? over the next five minutes to cut the lead to four points, 45-41, with 14:24 remaining. Seven different Lady Govs scored during the run which included the Lady Govs first three-point field goals of the game ? one each by senior Amber Bacon and freshman Alex Bivens.
Austin Peay (1-3) and Southern Miss would trade small rallies over the next six minutes, with Southern Miss unable to get more than a nine-point lead and Austin Peay unable to get closer than four points. The Lady Eagles finally were able to push their lead back into double digits, 65-55, with 6:23 remaining by using four consecutive free throws. A last Austin Peay push narrowed the gap back to six points, but USM was not to be denied, scoring seven of the game's last nine points.
“I don't know that I've ever been more proud of a basketball team,” said Lady Govs head coach Carrie Daniels. “In the first two games we dug big holes and we didn't battle back. Tonight they showed me what they are made of. [Southern Miss] could have buried us; they're a solid team from top to bottom. But our team showed me what they had, they showed me they had guts and they had heart and they dug down and climbed back after we found ourselves down. I'm just so proud of them."
After two scoreless minutes to start the game, Austin Peay scored first and led by as many as three points, 9-6, with 14:02 remaining in the opening period. After forcing the game's fourth tie, 18-18, with 8:24 left in the first, the Lady Govs offense went silent over the next five minutes. Southern Miss would score 11 consecutive points to build the game's first double-digit margin, 29-18, with 4:26 remaining. The Lady Eagles further padded their lead with the half's final nine points and took a 39-23 lead into the break.
Austin Peay committed 14 turnovers in the opening period while forcing only five Southern Miss miscues. Those turnovers translated into 11 fewer shot attempts for the Lady Govs and negated a 40-36 field-goal percentage advantage.
“At the half we talked a lot about our turnovers,” said Daniels. “We had 14 turnovers in the first half and they scored 14 points off those turnovers and that was the difference. I told them ? ?Our goal is to have 15 turnovers in the game and we had 14 in the first half and that's not the way we want to play basketball.' We told them the main thing was we had to protect the basketball and we can't let them dictate what we want to do offensively.”
Senior Ashlee McGee led Austin Peay with 15 points, six assists, three steals and two rebounds. Senior Kellea Reeves added a season-high 14 points and five rebounds. Freshman Ashley Herring chipped in an 11-point, seven-rebound performance that included two steals and two assists. Nine of the Lady Govs 10 players scored in the contest.
Southern Miss' Pauline Love led all scorers with 20 points and added a game-best nine rebounds. Amber Eugene added 13 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Austin Peay out-shot Southern Miss, 45 percent to 40 percent, but made eight fewer field goal attempts. Southern Miss out-rebounded the Lady Govs, 36-33, and forced more turnovers, 19-14.
Bivens and Herring were each named to the Lady Eagle Classic all-tournament team. They were joined by North Florida's Jennifer Guldager and Southern Miss' Andrea Barber and Pauline Love, who was named the tournament's “Most Valuable Player.”
- AP -
