Jan. 16, 2009

Box Score

Southwestern University struggled shooting from the field and behind the arc and dropped their sixth consecutive conference game, 58-68 at Rhodes.

The Pirates opened the game on a 5-0 run, but Rhodes quickly replied and brought the game back even just two minutes later. After trading baskets, the Pirates went on another run capped off by a layup by freshman guard Nekia Tharps that put SU by 6 with 9:33 left in the first half. Rhodes chipped away at the lead and pulled back even at 17 with just under 8 minutes left and continued to pile on the points as the half continued until they were up by 10 with 42 seconds remaining. A free throw by senior forward Natasha Azizi brought the lead back down to single digits, 32-23, going into halftime.

Rhodes came out of the break firing scoring the first 8 points of the half and going up by 17. The Pirates fought back and got the lead down to 5, 50-45, on an Azizi layup with 7 minutes left in the game. After trading baskets, sophomore guard Jennifer Tindle pulled the Pirates within two points, 52-50 with just 3:33 to go in the contest.

Two points would be the closest SU would get as they turned the ball over 3 times down the stretch and were forced to foul Rhodes who took advantage and made all 6 of their free throws to close out the game.

Southwestern was led by Azizi who recorded her fourth double-double on the season. She had 22 points and 10 rebounds on the night, both team highs for the Pirates. Tindle followed with 14 points and sophomore forward Staley Mullins pulled down 6 boards.

With the loss Southwestern falls to 4-11 on the season and 0-6 in the SCAC. They return to action on Saturday night at Birmingham-Southern. The game is anticipated to being at 8:00 p.m. following the men's contest.