Tulane University
Southern Miss
Second Half Lifts Women's Basketball Past Southern Miss
Jan 24, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2003
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - -
Tulane 67, Southern Miss 54 - Box Score
Tulane held Southern Miss to just six field goals in the second half and outscored the Golden Eagles 41-18 in the second stanza as the Green Wave cruised to a 67-54 win over USM at Reed Green Coliseum on Friday.
Tulane won its fifth straight and 10th in the last 12 games to improve to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in Conference USA play. Southern Miss lost for the first time in three contests, dropping to 9-8 overall and 2-2 in league action.
Southern Miss took a 36-26 lead into the halftime locker room only to see Tulane come roaring back to take a 39-38 lead barely four minutes into the second half. A pair of Southern Miss free throws gave USM a 42-41 lead at the 13:30 mark, but a Muci Haris steal and lay-up gave the Green Wave the lead for good. Haris' lay-up kick-started a 14-3 run that gave Tulane a 55-45 lead with 4:47 left. From there, Tulane hit seven free throws inside the final two minutes to hold off the Golden Eagles.
"I think in the first half, we were kind of hoping that they would just give us the game," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "In the second half, we obviously played much better. We were the aggressors. Our full-court pressure created some steals and some easy baskets."
Delacey Joseph led Tulane with 13 points, while adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals without committing a turnover in 24 minutes of work. Kelly Nadeau and Teana McKiver each scored 11 points, with Nadeau chipping in six steals and McKiver added three blocks. Gwen Slaughter had 10 points and 10 rebounds to post her third straight double-double. She also had a pair of blocks and two steals.
Tulane hit 48.4 percent of its shots in the second half (15-of-31), while holding Southern Miss to just 26.1 percent shooting in the second stanza (6-of-23). The Golden Eagles had a 45-34 edge in rebounding, but the Wave came back strong in the second half to out-rebound Southern Miss 21-19 after having been out-rebounded 26-13 in the opening frame.
Tulane returns to action next weekend as the Green Wave travel to face Conference USA foes Louisville and Cincinnati. The Wave will face Louisville on Friday before traveling to meet Cincinnati next Sunday.
