The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Southern Miss
Women's Basketball Falls At Southern Miss, 71-52
2/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2009
Final Stats 
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Final Stats
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Stephanie Helgeson scored 26 points and Kendra Reed added 15 as Southern Miss topped the UAB women's basketball team, 71-52, Thursday evening at Reed Green Coliseum. Britney Jones led the Blazers with 25 points on the night, while also adding seven rebounds and a game-high six assists.
UAB's record falls to 10-18 overall and 5-10 in Conference USA. Southern Miss, which was in a three-way tie for first place in C-USA entering the contest, improves its overall record to 18-10 and its league record to 11-4.
Southern Miss took the early lead, 9-4, but the Blazers hit back-to-back three's to take their first lead of the game, 10-9, at the 12:23 mark in the first half. The Lady Eagles went on an 11-2 run that spanned more than six minutes to go up 20-12. Southern Miss held as much as a 12-point lead in the opening half, 29-17, at the 3:25 mark, but UAB cut it to nine going into halftime, 29-20.
After Southern Miss went up by double digits early in the second half, UAB pulled within six, 35-29, at the 15:18 mark on a jumper by Tamika Dukes. The Lady Eagles gained the momentum and held their biggest lead of 20, 65-45, with 4:28 left on the clock. At the buzzer, Southern Miss had the 19-point win over UAB, 71-52.
"Southern Miss is always a tough place to play at," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "We didn't have enough contribution on the offensive end tonight. We need to make shots and have more people score for us."
The Blazers shot 35.7 percent (20-of-56) for the game, including 31.3 percent (5-of-16) from beyond the arc. UAB went to the free throw line 15 times, making seven of its attempts (46.7 percent).
Sophomore guard Amanda Peterson went 4-of-9 from the field that included a trio of treys to add 11 points for the Blazers. Dukes chipped in nine points and five rebounds for UAB.
Southern Miss went 27-of-56 (48.2 percent) from the field, including 3-of-8 (37.5 percent) from three-point range. The Lady Eagles also made 70.0 percent of their free throws, sinking 14-of-20 from the charity stripe.
Helgeson's 26 points led 10 players that scored for Southern Miss. Helgeson was 10-of-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line on the night. Pauline Love scored three points and grabbed a game-high 11 boards for the Lady Eagles.
UAB will play its final regular-season game on Sunday when it travels to Orlando, Fla. to take on the UCF Knights. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET and the game will be televised live on CBS College Sports.
