Erik Williams
Staff Writer
Despite a nail-biter of a game and a totally incredible performance by UH senior forward Jennifer Jones, the women's basketball team lost their final home game of the season, an 80-74 overtime heartbreaker to the University of Southern Mississippi Lady Golden Eagles last night at Hofheinz Pavilion. The loss, the Lady Cougars' third straight, drops UH to 9-15, 3-11 in C-USA play, while the Lady Eagles rise to 14-11, 8-7 in C-USA play.
Right from the start, both teams made it clear that they wanted the game as they played each other very evenly for the first eight minutes. But despite a full court press by the Lady Eagles, UH turned on the gas and broke the press, frustrating the Southern Miss game plan. What also frustrated the Lady Eagles is that their inability to rebound led to many fast break points by the Lady Cougars. By the end of the first half, which had UH leading 43-35, the Lady Cougars were shooting a torrid 61 percent (20-33) from the field while holding USM to 36 percent (10-28). UH also led in assists, 13 to seven, and they had forced 13 USM turnovers. In addition, Jones had 19 points in the half on 9-for-10 shooting, which didn't include a three pointer she made a second after the halftime buzzer.
In the second half, Southern Miss turned the tables on UH using a nearly constant barrage of three pointers and free throws to make a game of it. The Lady Eagles constantly chipped away at the UH lead until it got down to two points on several occasions. But each time the lead got lower and lower, the Cougars made a key basket to give themselves breathing room. The strategy worked until USM tied the game at 66 with 1:33 left to play. After trading misses and turnovers, UH guard Alicia Rodriguez made a layup with six seconds left. But after the ensuing timeout, Southern Miss threw a long pass to forward LaShonda Smith who made the layup, tying the score at 68. The score would stand as a last UH attempt failed at the buzzer sending the game into overtime.
In the five-minute extra session, the Lady Cougars' offense sputtered going 2-for-12 in field goals. The Eagles were able to capitalize and were never really threatened with under one minute left to go. For UH, their graduating seniors led the way. Jones led all players with 36 points and 12 rebounds, forward LaRonda Walker had 10 points and nine rebounds and guard Flecia Comeaux had nine points. For USM, Smith led the team with 22 points, guard Angela Atterberry had 17 points and forward Melody Reed had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
After the game, the team's thoughts were on how and where they lost. "I thought we played with a lot of heart," said UH head coach Jessie Kenlaw. "We fought, we hung in there, but we just didn't execute in the final three minutes (of the game)."
Rodriguez, who had eight points and nine assists in the game, agreed with the coach. "We didn't expect for them to throw a long pass. We tried to deny them, but they pulled it off."