Jan. 17, 2009

Box Score

The Southwestern women's basketball team dropped the second game of the road trip, 66-58 to Birmingham-Southern College on Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama despite having big nights from two to of the Pirates post players.

The Panthers led for most of the first half. Both teams shot similar percentages, but the Panthers hit two more three's than the Pirates, giving them the early edge. BSC netted 11 second-chance points thanks to a 22-15 rebounding margin. Southwestern headed into halftime down by three, 29-26.

The game continued to be tight for the first minutes of the second half= and then the Panthers' offense woke up. A BSC three pointer sparked a 19-4 run over the next five minutes that brought Birmingham-Southern from down one, 44-43, to up 14, 62-48. The Panthers hit four three's over the stretch and held the Pirates to just one field goal in the five minutes. BSC never again relinquished the lead and closed out the game.

Senior forward Natasha Azizi led the Pirates with 26 points in 33 minutes. Junior forward Staley Mullins posted her third double-double of the season by scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Guards Jessica Herbst and Jennifer Tindle had a team high 4 steals on the night.

The Pirates will return to action at home on Friday and Saturday night. On Friday they will take on nationally ranked 5/5 Oglethorpe and Saturday the Pirates will face Sewanee. Both games will begin around 8:00 p.m. following the men's contest.