Jan. 3, 2010

Box Score

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Sophomore guard Jasmine Bendolph scored 14 points and recorded a career-high eight assists to lead Louisiana Tech a 76-68 come-from-behind win over Southern Mississippi Sunday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum.

Bendolph, who had only played a total of 26 minutes due to health reasons in Tech's last three games, played 38 minutes and hit a key basket with 36 seconds remaining to propel LA Tech (9-3) to its fifth straight win.

With the Lady Techsters clinging to a 69-68 lead, Bendolph drove the right side of the lane and hit a running one-hander off the glass with the shot clock running down to push the advantage to three. USM (4-9) would get no closer the rest of the way.

"I get emotional whenever I talk about (Jasmine)," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "People don't know what this young lady goes through trying to get herself ready to play. She's always saying, `Coach, I don't want to let you down.'

"She was so big for us today. For her to play almost the entire game and do what she did, it just says so much about her heart."

Tech found itself trailing by six at the officials timeout under the four minute mark of the game, before the Lady Techsters ended the game on a 15-1 run. Down 67-61, Adrienne Johnson hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with 3:09 to play to pull LA Tech to within 67-64.

Shanavia Dowdell, who led all scorers with 26 points, then hit an 18-footer on the next possession to make the score 67-66. After a defensive stop, Dowdell gave Tech only its third lead of the game with a conventional three-point play with 1:40 to play.

USM would only score one point in the final five minutes of the game, it coming on a Candace Rucker free throw with 1:03 to play.

"We were focused defensively down the stretch," Weatherspoon said. "I challenged Adrienne Johnson (in the final media timeout). They were sagging so much on Shanavia that she had a wide open shot from the top of the key. I told her that I knew she could knock that shot down. She did and it was huge."

USM jumped out to an early lead behind a strong effort on the boards as Tech found itself trailing 16-4 with 15:04 to play as the Eagles pulled down the first 10 rebounds in the game.

Tech trailed 29-18 with just under eight minutes to play in the half before it used a 16-7 run to close the half and trail by only two entering the halftime locker room.

A Bendolph jumper at the 17:21 mark of the second half tied the game at 38-38, the first tie since the opening tipoff. Johnson followed with a jumper to give the Lady Techsters their first lead of the contest at 40-38 before USM used a 9-2 run to regain the 47-42 advantage.

USM led 51-45 with 13:40 to play before Whitney Jones scored five points in a quick 7-0 run as Tech took only its second lead at 52-51. However, once again, the Lady Eagles responded using a 16-9 run over the next eight minutes to lead 67-61 setting up the final heroics.

Dowdell ended with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals while Jones added 12 points. Kiara Young chipped in with nine points and five rebounds off the bench.

USM senior Pauline Love, the nation's leading rebounder, finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds while Rucker added 15 points.

Tech shot 41 percent (29-70) from the field to USM's 47 percent (27-58), but the Lady Techsters outrebounded the Lady Eagles 41-35, including 19 offensive boards.

The Lady Techsters open Western Athletic Conference play Wednesday against Utah State at 7 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.