Women’s basketball overcomes double-digit deficit to capture first conference win

The Lady Eagle basketball team had to overcome a 12-point deficit on Saturday afternoon to win the first conference game of the year over Marshall 48-46.

Southern Miss (9-5, 1-0) led for part of the first half before Marshall took a 10-point lead into halftime. Less than two minutes into the second half, Marshall led by a game-high 12 points.

The Eagles then went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to six. Marshall added a bucket before USM went on a 14-1 run to lead by a score of 44-39.  After trading baskets, Marshall hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play, but Southern Miss was able to run out the clock.

"I think it's huge for us to go into the half down 10 and make the comeback," said Southern Miss head coach Joye Lee McNelis. We started to defend and make baskets off out defense. Our defense was tremendous in the second half. "

Jamierra Faulkner was the only Southern Miss player to score in double digits. Faulkner had 15 points and eight assists. Ance Celmina added nine points and six rebounds. Tanecka Carey had an uncharacteristic game shooting the ball, going 1-11 from the field with just three points.

Norrisha Victrum lead the Thundering Herd with 15 points and five rebounds.

Marshall falls to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in conference play. McNelis stated that Marshall is a much tougher opponent than their record shows.

"Marshall's record is no indicator of what kind of team they have," McNelis said. "They are very similar to us but more athletic. When we made a defensive mistake, they took advantage of it. You have to give them a lot of credit.

Southern Miss heads to Memphis on Sunday to take on the Tigers at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Network.