Tuesday, November 19
Reed Green Coliseum
6 p.m.
Southern Miss
4-1
59
vs
53
Ole Miss
2-2
1
2
3
4
F
Ole Miss
12
10
15
16
53
Southern Miss
12
19
5
23
59
Lady Eagles Fight to the Finish Defeating Ole Miss, 59-53
11/19/2019 9:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball
It was neck and neck in the second half, but Southern Miss walked away victorious.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Eagles defeated the Ole Miss Rebels on Tuesday night in Reed Green Coliseum 59-53 after an extremely close contest.
Southern Miss (4-1) defeated Ole Miss (2-2) in a neck-and-neck contest with the Rebels. The first quarter saw the two teams tie at 12 to finish it out, both scoring eight of the 12 points in the paint. Amber Landing had four boards in the first quarter alone. But in the second quarter, Southern Miss pulled away, outscoring the Rebels 19-10. The Lady Eagles scored eight of their 19 in the paint, and four points off of fast breaks. Respect Leaphart hit a good 3-pointer to really kick things off after following a good jumper from Kelsey Jones. Alarie Mayze would also find herself a 3-ball that quarter. After the halftime break, Ole Miss came out with a rekindled fire, but the Southern Miss 'Feisty Bunch' defense held strong. The Rebels would score 15 points in the third to USM's five, bringing the total score at the end of the third to 37-36 in Ole Miss' favor. The next quarter saw the two teams stay within one of each other every possession. Alarie Mayze played a big part in the defense of the Lady Eagles tonight, with her deflections leading to big run-outs for the team. Not only that, the senior finished the game with two 3-pointers, tying her career high. With 3:17 left on the clock, Daishai Almond hit a good jumper, putting the Lady Eagles up by two. Then Rebel Jayla Alexander matched Almond's jumper with one of her own, making it 51-all. From there, it was all the Lady Eagles. Kelsey Jones hit a jumper, then Shonte Hailes, then a jumper by Alexander put it back within two after a steal. Three fouls were made by the Rebels back-to-back-to-back, sending Respect Leaphart to the line, where she would sink both. The score is 57-53, and after a 30-second timeout, the Rebels' Sarah Dumitrescu misses a jumper, and Almond makes the rebound. Almond is fouled, and makes both her free throws, sealing the Lady Eagle victory with just :02 seconds on the clock.
A nail biter of a game improved the Lady Eagles' record to 4-1, a start they have not had since 2017-18 when Southern Miss defeated William Carey, Tulane, Mississippi Valley and Alcorn but fell to Mississippi State. Senior Shonte Hailes was a difference-maker, scoring 17 points, putting her just two shy of 1,000 in her career, as well as going 7-for-12 from the floor, 3-of-5 from the free throw line, and collecting two assists, three steals and committing zero turnovers.
Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis
"What a great basketball game. Unbelievable basketball game by two very, very good basketball teams early in the year. We were just fortunate enough to be able to win. I think the major key for us was the play of senior Shonte Hailes. Unbelievable. She had fire, she took control of the game, she did not run away from the basketball, she wanted the ball to make the play, defensively she helped us. We had different players at different times that made big plays for us. It doesn't show up on the stat sheet but Alarie Mayze's defense on the basketball was unbelievable. She made things happen with her aggressiveness defensively and I think that played a major key in our win. Liz Gibbs came in that first half and was 'super sub' in that half."
"What it boiled down to was the defensive rebounds that we got in that stretch and we were able to get things going the other way. We finally hit a flow offensively in that stretch and I think we played with poise. I don't know how much poise we or myself had on that sideline, but our team had poise on the floor to be able to execute."
Senior Guard Shonte Hailes
"The atmosphere tonight was insane. The fans helped us out big time for this dub and for us to get that dub here and keep our streak alive was big time for the team; we needed that to help boost our confidence even higher. I was not aware of [being two points shy of 1,000]. I don't even think coach was aware. We were so in tune to the game and finishing out that it slipped our minds for sure. I'm very pleased with our team as a whole, especially our defense. I feel like deep down in the heat of the game, our defense is what wins us ball games. Last year we couldn't say that our defense was up to point, but now all our girls are bought in and our defense right now is the bread and butter."
Up Next
The Lady Eagles have a 10-day layoff until their next game against Mississippi Valley State on Friday, Nov. 29 to start the Lady Eagle Classic at 4 p.m. in Reed Green Coliseum.
Southern Miss (4-1) defeated Ole Miss (2-2) in a neck-and-neck contest with the Rebels. The first quarter saw the two teams tie at 12 to finish it out, both scoring eight of the 12 points in the paint. Amber Landing had four boards in the first quarter alone. But in the second quarter, Southern Miss pulled away, outscoring the Rebels 19-10. The Lady Eagles scored eight of their 19 in the paint, and four points off of fast breaks. Respect Leaphart hit a good 3-pointer to really kick things off after following a good jumper from Kelsey Jones. Alarie Mayze would also find herself a 3-ball that quarter. After the halftime break, Ole Miss came out with a rekindled fire, but the Southern Miss 'Feisty Bunch' defense held strong. The Rebels would score 15 points in the third to USM's five, bringing the total score at the end of the third to 37-36 in Ole Miss' favor. The next quarter saw the two teams stay within one of each other every possession. Alarie Mayze played a big part in the defense of the Lady Eagles tonight, with her deflections leading to big run-outs for the team. Not only that, the senior finished the game with two 3-pointers, tying her career high. With 3:17 left on the clock, Daishai Almond hit a good jumper, putting the Lady Eagles up by two. Then Rebel Jayla Alexander matched Almond's jumper with one of her own, making it 51-all. From there, it was all the Lady Eagles. Kelsey Jones hit a jumper, then Shonte Hailes, then a jumper by Alexander put it back within two after a steal. Three fouls were made by the Rebels back-to-back-to-back, sending Respect Leaphart to the line, where she would sink both. The score is 57-53, and after a 30-second timeout, the Rebels' Sarah Dumitrescu misses a jumper, and Almond makes the rebound. Almond is fouled, and makes both her free throws, sealing the Lady Eagle victory with just :02 seconds on the clock.
A nail biter of a game improved the Lady Eagles' record to 4-1, a start they have not had since 2017-18 when Southern Miss defeated William Carey, Tulane, Mississippi Valley and Alcorn but fell to Mississippi State. Senior Shonte Hailes was a difference-maker, scoring 17 points, putting her just two shy of 1,000 in her career, as well as going 7-for-12 from the floor, 3-of-5 from the free throw line, and collecting two assists, three steals and committing zero turnovers.
Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis
"What a great basketball game. Unbelievable basketball game by two very, very good basketball teams early in the year. We were just fortunate enough to be able to win. I think the major key for us was the play of senior Shonte Hailes. Unbelievable. She had fire, she took control of the game, she did not run away from the basketball, she wanted the ball to make the play, defensively she helped us. We had different players at different times that made big plays for us. It doesn't show up on the stat sheet but Alarie Mayze's defense on the basketball was unbelievable. She made things happen with her aggressiveness defensively and I think that played a major key in our win. Liz Gibbs came in that first half and was 'super sub' in that half."
"What it boiled down to was the defensive rebounds that we got in that stretch and we were able to get things going the other way. We finally hit a flow offensively in that stretch and I think we played with poise. I don't know how much poise we or myself had on that sideline, but our team had poise on the floor to be able to execute."
Senior Guard Shonte Hailes
"The atmosphere tonight was insane. The fans helped us out big time for this dub and for us to get that dub here and keep our streak alive was big time for the team; we needed that to help boost our confidence even higher. I was not aware of [being two points shy of 1,000]. I don't even think coach was aware. We were so in tune to the game and finishing out that it slipped our minds for sure. I'm very pleased with our team as a whole, especially our defense. I feel like deep down in the heat of the game, our defense is what wins us ball games. Last year we couldn't say that our defense was up to point, but now all our girls are bought in and our defense right now is the bread and butter."
Up Next
The Lady Eagles have a 10-day layoff until their next game against Mississippi Valley State on Friday, Nov. 29 to start the Lady Eagle Classic at 4 p.m. in Reed Green Coliseum.
Team Stats
OM
USM
FG%
.396
.458
3FG%
.158
.250
FT%
.727
.750
RB
34
27
TO
22
17
STL
5
14
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard/Forward
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