Blazers Outdo the Lady Eagles in Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Lady Eagles had a hard-fought matchup with the UAB Blazers in their Saturday afternoon bout, but Southern Miss ultimately fell in the end, 71-60.

Southern Miss (8-9, 0-4) was nipping at the heels of the Blazers (15-2, 3-1) throughout the second half, seeing peaks in momentum thanks to shots from Daishai Almond, Shonte Hailes and Respect Leaphart.

The Lady Eagles came into the third quarter with a renewed sense of energy and drive after a foul-filled first half. Down by sixteen, the Lady Eagles started off that third with a jumper by Megan Brown, then Allie Kennedy's second 3-pointer of the night, followed by four fouls that brought six points to USM. After the 6-0 run, UAB followed up with a jumper, and Southern Miss responded with a smooth 3-pointer from Respect Leaphart. Then there was a wide open jumper from Shonte Hailes, followed with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from true freshman Daishai Almond to end the third. Starting the fourth quarter, the score was 53-45; the Lady Eagles only down by eight. At the first media timeout, they were within six. Hailes led the Lady Eagles on a 6-0 run where she put USM within four and UAB in a drought for over three minutes, only for the Blazers to respond with a 3-ball. Southern Miss scored three more field goals in the last three minutes, but the damage had been done by the Blazers. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Eagles had six points off turnovers and eight in the paint.

Notables

Shonte Hailes had a season-high assists with 7, and now has 73 assists on the season. The junior has passed the 300 career assists mark and now has 319.
Respect Leaphart has a new season-high in steals and tied her career high with 3.
Amber Landing tied her season-high in points with 6.
Megan Brown has now been perfect from the free-throw line for 10 games, and has had 11 games with at least 1 3-pointer.
Allie Kennedy has made at least 2 3-pointers in 8 games.
Southern Miss took more than 60 shots from the field.
Hailes led the team in points with 12 and assists with 7.
Alarie Mayze led the team in rebounds with 9.
The Lady Eagles finished with more than 40 rebounds, with almost 30 coming defensively.
Southern Miss is now 40-23 when playing the Blazers, and the series is led by Southern Miss, 16-15, in Bartow Arena.

Up Next
The Lady Eagles return home for a two-game stint against Charlotte and Old Dominion, playing the 49ers on Jan. 17 and the Monarchs on Jan. 19.

Blazers Outdo the Lady Eagles in Birmingham

Players Mentioned

Daishai Almond

Megan Brown

Shonte Hailes

Allie Kennedy

Amber Landing

Respect Leaphart

Alarie Mayze