USM basketball picks up pair of key wins

Larry Eustachy and Joye Lee-McNelis are feeling a lot better these days.

The two Southern Miss basketball coaches can rest a little easier after Saturday, when Eustachy’s Golden Eagles defeated Houston 57-55 on the road and Lee-McNelis’ Lady Eagles 67-39 at Reed Green Coliseum.

The men have won four straight conference games after starting 0-4, and with a road win over Tulsa on Wednesday night they’ll pull even with Marshall for fifth in the Conference USA standings.

Gary Flowers led the Eagles with 15 points, Sai’Quon Stone had 12 points and junior R.L. Horton added 11, but it was Torye Pelham’s tip-in at the buzzer that gave Southern Miss the win.

Houston held a 29-21 lead at the half, but Southern Miss fought their way back in the second half.

“If I had to explain this game, it is that we had adversity after adversity, and kept fighting through it,” said Southern Miss head coach Larry Eustachy. “When you start out as poorly as we did, it’s hard to keep playing the other aspects of the game. But, we kept playing. In the second half, I thought we wanted it just a little bit
more, but it just came down to a bang-bang play.”

Eustachy’s Eagles return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday at UTEP’s Haskins Center.

Back in Hattiesburg, The Lady Eagles completely dominated Marshall, holding the Lady Herd to 39 points on 16 of 66 (26 percent) shooting.

Pauline Love recorded her 53rd-career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Tanesha Washington added 15 points and Danielle Johnson chipped in 12.

“I think this Lady Eagle team is hands down a different Lady Eagle team from three weeks ago,” said Lee-McNelis. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence. We’ve got multiple players making plays”

The Lady Eagles (7-15, 3-6 in C-USA) have a bigger hole to dig out of, but McNelis said Saturday’s game is cause for optimism.

“We played unbelievable in the first half,” Lee-McNelis said. “It was hands down the best half we’ve played all year. I think we fed off our defense - it was very good and it created opportunities for us to get some easy baskets and created other opportunities.

“Now we have a winning streak and that can become part of our behavior. It’s key that we continue to work hard and demand excellence. Things are going in a positive direction, and it’s a result of the hard work and time we put in.”

The Lady Eagles return to the court Friday, when they hit the road to take on rival Memphis at Elma Roane Fieldhouse.