Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss to play for bye in tournament
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – It’s been two months since Louisiana Tech defeated Southern Miss in Ruston to open the Conference USA season.
Sixteen games later the two league rivals will square off in the final regular season game of the year with a first round bye in the upcoming Conference USA Tournament on the line. Tipoff Friday night at Reed Green Coliseum is set for 6 p.m.
LA Tech (17-11, 12-5 C-USA) and Southern Miss (20-9, 12-5) are currently in a two-way tie for third place in the Conference USA standings.
The winner of Friday night’s game secures the No. 3 seed and a first day bye in the upcoming C-USA Tournament in Birmingham.
The loser could fall out of the top four, thus forcing them to play in the first round. Tech enters the game on a seven-game winning streak while Southern Miss has won six in a row.
“This should be a great game between two teams that are playing really, really well down the stretch,” said Tech head coach Brooke Stoehr.
“It will be two teams with contrasting styles and different strengths. Southern Miss wants to get out and pressure you and make your turn the basketball over so they can score in transition. They are guard-oriented. We want to get the basketball inside to our post players and crash the glass. It should be a great game.”
In the first meeting of the year – a 72-61 win by LA Tech on Dec. 30 – the Golden Eagles forced the Lady Techsters into a season-high 25 turnovers and pulled down 22 offensive rebounds.
However, Tech’s zone defense held USM to only 29 percent shooting while the Lady Techsters connected on 48 percent of their field goals.
Tech led 43-42 through three quarters before outscoring USM 29-19 in the final 10 minutes of action.
Southern Miss has won its last five games by 15 or more points with the last loss being a 79-53 setback at WKU on Feb. 4.
Senior guard Brittany Dinkins is the catalyst for the Golden Eagles, averaging 18.4 points per game while hitting 52 three pointers on the year. Dinkins also leads USM in assists (110) and steals (98).
The game will feature two of the top shooting teams in C-USA as both LA Tech and Southern Miss are hitting 44 percent of their field goal attempts on the season.
During its seven-game winning streak, Louisiana Tech has posted five wins by double digits, including four straight. Tech’s recent success has been due to the fact the Lady Techsters have controlled the boards and cut down on its turnovers, averaging just 13 turnovers a game in the last 10 contests.
Kierra Anthony (13.0 ppg, 45-104 three-pointers), Jasmine LeBlanc (12.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and Alexus Malone (11.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg) continue to pace LA Tech offensively although Stoehr and Co. have seen consistent contributions off the bench over the last month of the season.
Tech leads the all-time series with Southern Miss 7-4, including a 2-1 mark in Hattiesburg.