Michigan 91 Southern Mississippi 54

Another good win for the Wolverines as they had five players in double figures and held Southern Mississippi's leading scorer Pauline Love to 7 points.

From the Michigan Daily:

Michigan (3-0) seemed much more comfortable, and it showed right from the start in last night's 91-54 win.

Senior center Krista Phillips started strong for the Wolverines, scoring 13 points in the first half, including dropping the game's first 3-pointer.

“It comes from our teammates,” Phillips said. “When we all play well, I play well. I get my feed off them.”

Providing plenty of offensive support was freshman guard Dayeesha Hollins, who is quickly becoming a star. She led the team with 18 points and five assists and also played a game-high 31 minutes.

From mgoblue.com:

All five starters scored in double digits, led by 18 points from freshman guard Dayeesha Hollins (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods), as the University of Michigan women's basketball team beat Southern Mississippi, 91-54, on Thursday (Nov. 19) inside Crisler Arena. The win moves the Wolverines to 3-0 on the season.

Also, stories in the Detroit Free Press and annarbor.com.

Next: Southern Mississippi

Michigan hosts Southern Mississippi Thursday night at 7:00pm in Crisler Arena. This is a rematch from last year, which Michigan won 61-51 in Hattiesburg. (They also defeated Southern Mississippi in the Women's NIT two years ago, 59-45).

The Golden Eagles are led by forward Pauline Love who is averaging 25 points and 12 rebounds so far this season.

Tonight is part of the canned food drive - bring a canned good and get in for only $1.00. More information here.

Southern Mississippi Tournament

Michigan barely edged Belmont 64-60 on Friday, as they faced a late rally but held on and won. Saturday, the Wolverines beat host Southern Mississippi 61-51, behind Jessica Minnfield's 23 points and Stephany Skrba's 20.

(Late) Update - coverage of the tournament from mgoblue.com on the Belmont game and the Southern Mississippi game, mlive.com and the Southern Mississippi student paper, the Student Printz.

A nice quote from the Southern Mississippi coach:

"We've made some steps in the right direction," Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said.
"Yes, we wanted to win this game, but we played a very good Michigan team that has been battled tested. They (Michigan) beat Vanderbilt, who was picked to win the SEC and a three-point loss to No. 8 Texas A&M.
They are seasoned basketball players who do a great job of playing well together.

They find each other, you double-down on the low block; they hit each other for the three. I can't say enough about how good this team is. For our team to play them to a 10-point game also says a lot about how far we have come."

Live Blogs of the Southern Mississippi Game

Thanks to Chris for this link - from the Hattiesburg American. It contains possibly the nicest thing I've heard about Crisler in about 15 years:

The arena has kind of an old school charm to it.

Also, from a Michigan perspective, the Michigan Daily also live blogged the game.

Coverage of the Southern Mississippi Win

MichiganDaily.com (1):

The Southern Mississippi women's basketball team averages more than 72 points per game.

But that was before it came to Crisler Arena to face Michigan in the third round of the Women's National Invitation.

Last night, Michigan held the Lady Eagles to their lowest point total this season in its 59-45 victory.

"If they're not scoring points and you're scoring them, it feels pretty good," Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said.

MichiganDaily.com (2):

On most nights, even when the Wolverines win, the opposition attempts more shots than the Michigan women's basketball team.

But for just the seventh time this season, the Wolverines outshot Southern Mississippi by two last night in a 59-45 win at Crisler Arena.

And Michigan coach Kevin Borseth couldn't have been more relieved.

"That's a milestone," Borseth joked.

Mlive.com:

With the offense sputtering and a sizable lead fully evaporated, the need for a spark became necessary.

But with one fluid perimeter jumpshot and a powerful burst to the basket, Ashley Jones provided the University of Michigan women's basketball team the boost it needed in the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

The junior guard finished with eight points and sparked a second-half offensive resurgence to lead the Wolverines to a 59-45 WNIT victory over Southern Mississippi on Thursday night at Crisler Arena.

ClarionLedger (Jackson, Mississippi):

The Southern Miss women's basketball team rode a late season 10-3 surge into the third round of the WNIT, but Thursday's road trip to Michigan proved to be the finale for the Lady Eagles. Michigan eliminated Southern Miss 59-45 at Crisler Arena as the Wolverines used a dominating 30-2 run in a 12-minute span to put away the Lady Eagles.

"We went 9 minutes and did not score," Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis said. "I think it was the worst offensive performance in a segment of a game we had all year."

Before Michigan went on the huge run, Southern Miss actually took a 27-25 lead with 14:44 left in the game when point guard Andrea Barber converted on a free throw after she was fouled on a layup.

"I thought we were going to have a lot of momentum after that layup and free throw," Barber said. "Then I turned the ball over and it was just a snowball effect after that.

"You have to take your hat off to Michigan, they played great defense."

Southern Miss ends the season at 21-14 as the Lady Eagles got their first two postseason victories since 1996.

Michigan 59 Southern Mississippi 45

Not the prettiest of wins, but anything that extends the season at this point is great. Jessica Minnfield and Stephany Skrba led Michigan with 13 points a piece. Janelle Cooper added 10 and Krista Phillips had 7 rebounds. Michigan only made one more field goal than Southern Mississippi, but they shot 19 more free throws. They also out rebounded the Lady Eagles 38-27.

Next game is against Michigan State in East Lansing on Sunday.

Next: Southern Mississippi

Tonight Michigan (18-13) plays Southern Mississippi (21-13) tonight at 7:00. Southern Mississippi is led by sophomore forward Pauline Love (16.4 pts/game, 10.4 rbs/game), sophomore center Stephanie Helgeson (12.1 pts/game, 6.3 rbds/game) and junior guard/forward Kendra Reed (12.1/pts game).

On paper, Michigan should be favored. They're playing at home amd have a better rpi rating (78th versus 175th for Southern Miss.). Their only common opponent is Miami of Florida, who beat Southern Miss 63-56 in a tournament and lost to Michigan 65-50 in Miami. On the other hand Southern Miss is coming off a last second win against Mississippi State and they took a very good UTEP team to overtime before losing 73-72.

The Student Printz (the Southern Mississippi student paper) has a preview:

After winning on a last-second shot Monday night, the Lady Eagles' basketball team is headed to Michigan tonight to face the Wolverines in the third round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.

Southern Miss (21-13) is coming off a 62-61 win over in-state rival Mississippi State in which Pauline Love hit a game-winning three-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining.
Love finished with a game-high 18 points, Kendra Reed added 15 points, Stephanie Helgeson and Liz Biland chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively. Helgeson also grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds. Southern Miss fought back from a 15-point deficit, using a 22-6 run over the last 9:48.

The second-round win propelled the Lady Eagles to the WNIT Sweet 16. They will play Michigan tonight, who also won Monday night over Virginia Commonwealth, 75-57.

"We did not draw it up that away," said Southern Miss coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "I have to give Pauline credit for seeing an opportunity, but we will definitely take the basket."