"I was proud of the way our kids played in the last 15 minutes," Head Coach Rick Reeves said. "We could have easily given up, but we started to play hard in the second half. I was especially proud of the job that Deondar Carter, Denise Wilson and Dianca Jones did."

Cincinnati jumped out to a 19-2 lead in the first 11 minutes of the game and continued to put on an offensive show, leading by as many as 27 points in the half. The Bearcats finished the half shooting 58 percent while the Lady Eagles struggled from the start and finished shooting 27.8 percent from the field. Cincinnati scored 24 points off 13 Lady Eagle turnovers. The Bearcats led 43-17 at the half.

"We didn't do a good job of taking care of the basketball in the first 12 minutes of the game," Reeves said. "The effort was there, but nothing seemed to work. Once we settled down, we were able to make better decisions."

Cincinnati (12-12, 3-7) cooled off in the second half, shooting only 30 percent from the field. Cincinnati led by as many as 34 points, 58-24, with 12:53 remaining when Southern Miss turned up its defensive pressure. The Lady Eagles used a 29-6 run to cut the lead to 11 points, 64-53, with 2:08 left in the game. Cincinnati did not score a field goal in the last 12:53 of the game, but was able to maintain its lead by connecting on 18-of-22 in the span.

Southern Miss (14-8 and 2-8) finished the game shooting 41.9 percent with the help of a 52 percent second-half shooting. Southern Miss also held a slight rebounding edge, 34-32, and had only seven turnovers in the second half.

Carter led Southern Miss with 21 points, Denise Wilson added a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Lana Lewis chipped in 10. For the visitors, Valerie King led all scorers with 22 points followed by Toni Slaugher with 14, Brittani Young scored 11 and Micah Harvey added 10 points.

Both teams combined for 56 fouls with the Bearcats shooting 22-of-32 from the line and Southern Miss was 25-of-37.

Southern Miss concludes its final home game on Sunday, hosting Louisville and honoring the four senior players, Tierra Lassiter, Marlena Lee, Lana Lewis and Allison Story.