Feb. 22, 2007

Box Score

East Carolina 68, Southern Miss 52 (PDF)
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HATTIESBURG, Miss.--Led by a career-high 29 points from Jasmine Young, the East Carolina women's basketball program won its sixth-straight game with a 68-52 win over Southern Miss Thursday evening. With the win, the Lady Pirates have clinched a first-round bye in the 2007 C-USA Championship.

ECU improves to 15-13, 10-5 in C-USA play while Southern Miss falls to 14-14 overall, 8-7 in league play.

Southern Miss jumped out to the early 5-2 lead on back to back baskets by Liz Biland. The Lady Pirates took their first lead of the game on a Cherie Mills jumper at the 15:41 mark, giving them the 6-5 edge. Both teams traded baskets over the next two and a half minutes, tying the game twice before ECU took the 13-11 lead on another Mills jumper with 13:19 to play in the half. The Lady Eagles went ahead 14-13 on a Biland basket with just under 13 minutes remaining. An Impris Manning free throw tied the game at 14 a piece. Southern Miss' Amber Eugene's layup with 1:07 on the clock put the Lady Eagles ahead 16-14. A three-point play by LaCoya Terry sparked an 11-0 East Carolina run, giving the Lady Pirates the 25-16 advantage with 6:46 to play. Kendra Reed's three-point play at the 6:43 mark briefly stopped the run, but the Lady Pirates put together a 7-0 spurt to increase their lead to 13, 32-19, with 3:04 remaining until the half. Southern Miss cut East Carolina's lead down to eight, 32-24 on a 5-0 rally late in the half, but five straight points by Young to end the half gave the Lady Pirates the 37-24 lead at the break.

Young led all scorers with 17 points at the half, including two three-pointers. Biland led the Lady Eagles with eight points at the break. ECU shot 48.4 percent in the opening half compared to Southern Miss' 28.6 percent.

Young started the scoring for the Lady Pirates in the second half with her third three-pointer of the contest. Southern Miss went on a 12-2 run, sparked by another Biland trey, cutting the East Carolina lead down to seven, 45-38, with 13:27 to play. The Lady Pirates, however, put together a 10-3 run over the next five minutes, increasing their lead to 12, 57-45, with 8:27 remaining in the game. A late Southern Miss rally cut the lead down to nine, 61-52, with 3:33 on the clock, but ECU scored the final seven points of the contest to give the Lady Pirates the 68-52 victory.

Young led all scorers with a career-high 29 points, including four three-pointers. Terry finished 13 points and 11 rebounds for her first career double-double. Mills also scored in double figures, adding 11. Biland led the Lady Eagles with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Eugene added 14 points. ECU shot 48.3 percent from the field while Southern Miss shot 33.9 percent.

East Carolina plays its final contest of the regular season this Saturday as they travel to Orlando, Fla. to face UCF. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.

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