THE
S TUDENT PRINTZ SERVING SOUTHERN MISS SINCE 1927
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Volume 98 Issue 43
ALUMNI
BASKETBALL
SXSW victim dies
USM advances to play Missouri Joshua Campbell
Alan Rawls
Sports Editor
Managing Editor
Sandy Le
Courtesy Photo
Sandy Le, a University of Southern Mississippi alumna, died Monday as a result of injuries sustained in the deadly car crash at Austin’s annual South by Southwest Music Festival March 13. Le was a 26-year-old graduate and native of Pass Christian who attended the festival with a group of friends. She was one of 25 total injured in the crash, including the driver, whose blood alcohol content was recorded as 0.114, according to the Clarion-Ledger. “(Le) was full of life, she was quirky and she was always someone you were looking forward to seeing,” said Stuart Gates, Le’s brother-in-law. “We’ve lost someone who knew how to live life and knew how to make people happy.” Gates created an online fundraising campaign to help the Le family in this difficult time. For those wishing to donate to help the Le family cover medical, travel, legal and other expenses, visit fundly. com/assistance-for-sandy-le.
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NEWS WUSM Radio station recognized for national award.
Becky Vu/Printz
Senior Neil Watson goes for a layup during the first NIT game against The University of Toledo at ReedGreen Coliseum Wednesday night.
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FEATURE Sean Payton Saints head coach talks football.
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OPINION Politics in black and white Race should not determine political party affiliation.
At halftime, it appeared as if the Golden Eagles would cruise to a first round win in the NIT tournament after leading 34-19. USM got to that point by shooting lights out, converting on 50 percent of their shots from the field in the first half while pressuring Toledo into bad shots and mistakes. This was evident in USM’s 12-2 run that covered nearly six minutes. “I thought in the first half, we defended real well,” said head coach Donnie Tyndall. “Any time you can hold a great offensive team to 28 percent like that, you’re doing some good things.” However, Toledo came out on a mission early in the second half and Southern Miss was not rising to the occasion. In just over seven minutes of play after the break, Toledo claimed their first lead of the game following a 22-6 run. After Aaron Brown hit a pair of free throws, Daveon Boardingham gave USM the lead for good with a dunk that was assisted by Michael Craig with 7:19 remaining. Up 5451, Brown connected on a 22foot three pointer that gave USM some breathing room. With just over a minute and a half remaining in the game, Watson found Craig for an alley-oop that gave USM a 6155 lead. “It was a great back cut by Mike and obviously Neil makes the pass and delivers,” Tyndall said of the play that gave USM the momentum going forward. After a free throw by Craig and two more by Jerrold Brooks, USM had nine point
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See NIT, 3 SPORTS Baseball Grand slam in 18-2 win over ULM.