TSU bows to Southern Miss in WNIT

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi -- Texas Southern started strong against Southern Miss in its Women's National Invitation Tournament opener, leading by as many as 13 in the first half.

But the Lady Tigers were quickly overwhelmed in the second half.

Southern Miss opened the second period on a 14-3 run to erase a 10-point halftime deficit and poured on the offense from there en route to defeating TSU 79-69 before a crowd of 1,358 Thursday night at Reed Green Coliseum.

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Tamara Jones had game highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds for Southern Miss (23-10), which outscored TSU 46-26 in the second half after trailing 43-33 at halftime.

"I thought Southern Miss made a great adjustment at halftime to our zone defense," TSU coach Johnetta Hayes-Perry said. "I also thought we did a poor job defensively in the second half."

Brianna Sidney scored 22 points, and Diamonisha Sophus added 16 for TSU (19-11).

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