Women's Basketball: Dec. 29 Scoreboard
McNeese State 74, Texas Southern 70
Ole Miss 79, Southeastern Louisiana 71 (OT)
Southern Miss 89, Nicholls 57
No. 18 Oklahoma State 89, Northwestern State 44
McNeese State 74, Texas Southern 70
LAKE CHARLES, La. -- McNeese State women’s basketball game back from an 11-point deficit and Amber Donnes scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Cowgirls in a 74-70 non-conference win Monday night.
McNeese improved to 6-5 on the year while Texas Southern fell to 3-8 overall. Donnes was joined in double figure scoring by Allison Baggett (17), Jayln Johnson (15) and Talisa Boyd (10). Donnes was 6-of-11 from the field including a career high five three-pointers. Johnson ended the game dishing out a career high 14 assists.
The Cowgirls trailed 37-31 at the half and trailed by as many as nine points with 11:07 left in the half. Texas Southern dominated the boards in the first half, outrebounding McNeese 21-11.
McNeese picked up its defensive efforts in the second half and turned the table in the rebound category. The Cowgirls outrebounded the Tigers 23-20 in the second half and held Texas Southern to only seven-second chance points.
The Cowgirls’ comeback began with an Alaina Verdin jumper with 15:42 left in the game. That bucket started a 14-4 run and ended with a three-pointer by Johnson that gave the Cowgirls a 50-49 lead. After Texas Southern retook the lead on their next possession, McNeese went on another run (12-7) to take its largest lead of the second half.
Texas Southern fought their way back to retake the lead 70-67 with 2:21 to play but back-to-back buckets by Talisa Boyd gave McNeese a 71-70 lead with 1:04. The Tigers had several chances in the final minute to score but Johnson iced the game at the free throw line, scoring the Cowgirls’ last three points at the charity stripe.
McNeese will host preseason favorite Stephen F. Austin Jan. 3 in its Southland Conference opener.
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Ole Miss 79, Southeastern Louisiana 71 (OT)
OXFORD, Miss. – The Southeastern Louisiana women’s basketball team’s upset bid fell just short, as Ole Miss pulled away in overtime for a 79-71 victory in the Lady Lions’ non-conference finale Monday night at Tad Smith Coliseum.
Southeastern (4-7) held a six-point lead with less than three minutes left in regulation, but Ole Miss (10-3) retook the lead before SLU junior guard Peaches Anderson tied the game with 3.6 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. In the extra period, the Rebels shook off the Lady Lions’ upset attempt by holding SLU to 1-of-9 shooting from the floor.
The win would’ve provided a satisfying homecoming for first-year Lady Lion head coach Yolanda Moore, who was three-time All-SEC forward for the Rebels and is a member of the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame. Despite taking her former school to the limit, Moore offered no talk of a moral victory.
Senior guard Elizabeth Styles led four Lady Lions in double figures with 18 points, while also dishing out seven assists. Senior wing Annessa De La Cruz came off the bench with a season-high 13 points.
Junior forward Nanna Pool posted her sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while senior forward Jameika Hoskins chipped in with 12 points. Pool and Hoskins also finished with three steals apiece, as SLU forced Ole Miss into 20 turnovers.
Ole Miss was led by senior forward Tia Faleru’s 18 points and 11 rebounds. Faleru was joined in double figures by A’Queen Hayes (15 points) and Danielle McCray (13 points).
After Southeastern jumped out to a 6-2 lead, Ole Miss scored the next 16 points over a five-minute span. A Faleru layup gave the Lady Rebels an 18-6 advantage with 12:12 remaining in the opening half.
Southeastern answered with five straight points of its own and methodically chopped into the Ole Miss advantage. The Lady Lions would close the half on a 15-4 run to take a 35-31 lead into the break.
Southeastern kept holding Ole Miss at bay throughout the second half. A three from the corner by Styles put SLU ahead, 62-56, with 3:14 remaining.
Taking a page our of the SLU playbook, Ole Miss grinded and slowly worked their way closer. A free throw by Hayes gave Ole Miss a 67-65 advantage with 22 seconds left.
On the final SLU possession of regulation, Styles penetrated but lost the handle going up. Hoskins was able to come out of a scrum with the loose ball and found Anderson in the corner. The Meridian, Mississippi native had the presence of mind to streak to the basket and scoop in a layup with 3.6 second left on the clock. Ole Miss was unable to get a shot off after a timeout to force overtime.
The two team’s traded buckets to start overtime, as a Pool jumper knotted the score at 69 with 4:18 remaining. However, Ole Miss held SLU without a field goal for the remainder of the game, as the Lady Rebels closed out the game on a 10-2 run to win their fourth straight game.
Southeastern will open Southland Conference play at Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 5 in Nacogdoches, Texas. The 6 p.m. contest will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at
www.LionSports.net.
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Southern Miss 89, Nicholls 57
THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University women’s basketball team dug itself in a hole against Southern Miss with 18 first-half turnovers, and the Colonels were never able to make a game out of it as they fell, 89-57, to the Lady Eagles on Monday night at Stopher Gym.
The loss was the first for Nicholls (4-7) at home this season and only its third loss at Stopher in the last 16 games. Southern Miss (7-4) snapped its three-game skid and improved its all-time record against the Colonels to 14-2 with a third consecutive win.
Senior Jenny Nash led Nicholls with a season-high 19 points and was 5-of-9 from 3-point range, but the Colonels had no answer for USM’s Tamara Jones, who led all scorers with 33 points. Jones missed only three shots from the field and connected on four 3-pointers as USM shot 52 percent from the field.
The two leading scorers put on a shooting clinic in the first half, with Nash connecting on 4-of-6 from long range for 14 points. Jones did most of her damage inside, scoring 16 points to give the Lady Eagles a 39-25 lead at the half.
Nichols led only once in the game, coming in the first minute after a Nash 3-pointer made the score 3-1. But the Colonels started turning the ball over against the Southern Miss full court pressure, and USM turned the mistakes into points to grab a 23-13 lead midway through the opening period.
Nash answered with another 3-pointer to trim the deficit to seven, but the Lady Eagles countered with an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the half at 31-16.
Things did not get any better for Nicholls in the second half as USM took a 20-point lead after just four minutes. The advantage stayed in the 20s for most of the final period until the Lady Eagle bench added a few late 3-pointers to push the final margin to 32 points.
The Colonels finished the night with 27 turnovers, but Southern Miss also struggled taking care of the ball, recording 22. Nicholls shot 32 percent from the field and made eight 3-pointers. Along with Nash, Ekiya Gray reached double figures with 10 points and Tia Charles chipped in with eight.
Southern Miss made 35-of-67 from the field and had a total of 26 assists. Brittanny Dinkins joined Jones in double figures with 18 points.
Nicholls will begin conference play on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Lamar. Tipoff in Beaumont, Texas is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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No. 18 Oklahoma State 89, Northwestern State 44STILLWATER, Okla. – The 18
th-ranked Oklahoma State used a 21-0 first-half run to set the tone Monday night, cruising to an 89-44 victory against visiting Northwestern State at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
After the Cowgirls scored the game’s first seven points, Northwestern State (5-6) got a floater from Janelle Perez and a 3-pointer from Meghan Cross to cut the Oklahoma State (10-1) lead to 9-5 before OSU found its offensive groove.
Liz Donohoe paced six Cowgirls in double figures with 15 points. Oklahoma State also received double-figure scoring nights from Brittany Atkins (14), Kaylee Jensen (12), Roshunda Johnson (12), LaShawn Jones (12) and Brittney Martin (10).
Oklahoma State used its size advantage throughout the night and finished by hitting 59.7 percent of its shots (59.7 percent). OSU outscored Northwestern State 50-6 in the paint and posted a 41-24 advantage on the glass.
Perez paced the Lady Demons offense with 13 points, one off her season best.
Perez connected on a trio of 3-pointers, as Northwestern State connected on a season-high nine 3s. Chelsea Rogers also drained three 3 pointers, scoring nine points. Presley Owens hit her first 3-pointer of the season, as NSU was 9-for-27 from 3-point range.
Oklahoma State asserted its size advantage early and shot 60.6 percent from the field in the first half, connecting on 20 of 33 shots. OSU scored nearly half of its 50 first-half points in the paint, outscoring Northwestern State 24-2 in the lane in the first 20 minutes.
Johnson and Atkins complemented OSU’s interior scoring by connecting on a pair of first-half 3-pointers each.
NSU committed 10 first-half turnovers, which led to 20 OSU points, but the Lady Demons enjoyed one of its best 3-point shooting halves of the season. Five of the Lady Demons’ seven first-half field goals came from beyond the arc, as Rogers and Perez each connected on two long-range shots.
The Lady Demons return to action Friday when they face Houston Baptist at 3 p.m. in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.
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