Hattiesburg, Miss. – The Tennessee Tech women's basketball team fell on Wednesday night to the hand of host Southern Mississippi, 58-80.

The host Lady Eagles used a 16-6 run to open the second half to pull away from the Golden Eagles the 33-33 tie that took the squads into the locker room.

In the opening half, Tech came back behind the hustle play of junior Samaria Howard. At the 7:54 mark in the half, USM held a 26-12 lead, but Howard grabbed three of her six rebound within two minutes, including an offensive board that got her to the charity stripe. She scored six points and dished out a season-high four assists in the first half.

Tech closed the half with great ball movement in the final seconds to get a wide open three for sophomore Hannah Goolsby, whose shot swished at the buzzer, to tie the half at 33.

In the second half, USM went to its forwards, getting 12 second half points from forward Kierra Jordan and seven second half points from forward Tamara Jones.

The Golden Eagle scored on a Candace Parson jumper with 8:53, but that was the last basket that Tech would score, besides from the free throw line.

Howard finished the game with a game-high 17 points, adding four assists and six rebounds. Parson found her scoring touch, sinking 16 points. Parson grabbed six boards and added two steals. Goolsby and Yaktavia Hickson both added nine points.

USM was led by a trio who all scored 14 points. Jordan led the way as she added 11 boards as well. Brooke Rhodes added five points to her 14 points, while Jones added three boards.

For the first time this season, TTU outrebounded its opponent, grabbing 40 boards to USM's 33. However, USM forced the Golden Eagles into 25 turnovers, to its own 14. While they also dished out 19 assists to Tech's 7.

The Golden Eagles hit the road again Saturday as they head to Clemson for a 5 p.m. CST showdown.