Jan. 31, 2004

Final Stats

Hattiesburg, Miss. - Southern Miss used a 14-0 run early in the second half and posted an 81-51 victory over Saint Louis University in Conference USA women's basketball play in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Billikens dip to 7-13 overall, 1-6 in C-USA. Southern Miss improves to 14-5, 2-4 C-USA.

The Billikens started quickly in scoring the first six points of the game. Angie Lewis powered inside for a layup on the Bills' first possession, and Stephanie Solomon added a basket. Jana Haywood hit a wing jumper to push the Billikens up 6-0. SLU held Southern Miss without a point until the 16:44 mark. The Billikens extended the lead by hitting seven of their first 10 shots for a 14-6 lead. Southern Miss crashed the offensive boards and closed the gap to 14-11 with 11 minutes to play in the first half. USM stayed strong on the offensive glass and took its first lead after a missed free throw for a 22-21 lead with 5:16 to play. The Golden Eagles held the Bills without a point for over three minutes and built a five-point lead before settling for a 30-26 lead at intermission. Saint Louis hit 50 percent from the field, but Southern Miss scored nine points on second chance opportunities.

The Golden Eagles opened the second half quickly with a 14-0 run to open up its biggest lead of the game at 47-29 at the 12:44 mark. An Ava Smith 3-pointer ended the run to pull SLU to 47-32, but the Golden Eagles scored 10 of the next 12 points, extended the margin to over 20 points and held on to post the victory. The Billikens' shooting cooled off in the second half as they managed just 31.1 percent from the field. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles hit a blistering 59.4 percent after halftime.

Jana Haywood led the Billikens with 13 points, while Lakrisha Brown led the team with six rebounds. Denise Wilson finished with a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds. Marlena Lee hit all five of her shots from the field and finished with 12 points. Southern Miss enjoyed a 42-30 margin in rebounding and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.

The Billikens travel to New Orleans on Monday to take on Tulane in a 7 p.m. game at Fogelman Arena.