HATTIESBURG, Miss-- The University of Mobile women's basketball team fell 49-80 in an exhibition contest at NCAA-I University of Southern Mississippi Wednesday evening.
Mobile got a standout performance from junior post player Alice Honnery, who finished with 18 points, 9 blocks, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. She shot 8-of-11 from the floor.
The next best point producer for the Lady Rams was Crosby Morrison with 7 points off the bench. But, while those two combined for 25 points, the rest of the Lady Rams combined for only 24 points on 11-of-40 shooting.
USM got standout performances all over the place, led by a 24-point, 9-rebound effort from Tanesha Washington. Niesha Pierce and Tandrea High added 18 points apiece, while Jamierra Faulkner grabbed 8 of USM's 25 steals, as Mobile turned the ball over 33 times.
Southern Miss out shot Mobile 49% to 40% for the game and held a 46-32 rebounding edge, while neither team was a factor from deep, with only three combined 3-pointers made.
The opening half saw Southern Mississippi build a 16-point lead at the break, matching the teams largest lead of the opening 20 minutes.
Mobile struggled offensively for much of the half, shooting only 33% compared to 48% for the Lady Eagles. Sixteen Lady Ram turnovers also led to 14 USM points, while Washington poured in 15 points for Southern Miss.
Honnery led the way in the half for Mobile with 8 points and 4 blocks, shooting 4-of-5 from the floor, while the rest of the team hit only 6-of-25 from the floor.
It took Mobile 3:38 to score its first bucket, but USM also struggled early to keep Mobile in the game, as it was 10-6 with 13:30 left on the clock. The half turned from that point as Southern scored the next 11 points to make it 21-6, with Mobile going 5:54 between made field goals.
The final half was all Golden Eagles after Mobile pulled within 15 points at 26-41 on a layup from Monet Kearse with 16:17 remaining. From there, USM tallied the next 11 points and went on a 15-4 run to build a 56-30 lead with 11:13 left.
The Golden Eagles continued to add on to the lead the rest of the way.
Mobile (1-0) will return home to host Martin Methodist University Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 pm.