WBB to Open Season With William Carey

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss women's basketball program will tip off the regular season on Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. in Reed Green Coliseum when they take on crosstown foe William Carey for Education Day.

The Lady Eagles will start their season against the Crusaders for the seventh time in their history, boasting a 6-0 record when doing so. It will be the 16th time overall that the two teams meet, with Southern Miss leading the charge, 15-1.

Last time these two met, Southern Miss beat the Crusaders 74-48. Kelsey Jones had her first career double-double in her first career game with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Shonte Hailes led in assists with six. With Joye Lee-McNelis as head coach, the Lady Eagles are 10-0 against the Crusaders.

The Opposition
The Crusaders, led by Head Coach Tracy English, have already played one regular-season game. They faced Xavier of Louisiana in New Orleans on Tuesday, Oct. 29th. They dropped the decision 56-68 against the Gold Nuggets. The Crusaders were led by Danyelle Lewis for scoring with 10 points, McKinely Seal for rebounds and assists with five rebounds and six assists.

The Lady Eagles
Southern Miss is coming off a win in exhibition against Spring Hill, where they defeated the Badgers 83-66 on Saturday in Reed Green Coliseum. Shonte Hailes led the squad with 22 total points, while Amber Landing had eight rebounds and Alarie Mayze had six assists. Newcomers Jalise Smallwood and Liz Gibbs both got playing time, and both scored. Allie Kennedy and Hailes were both hot from the 3-point line, draining four and two threes, respectively.

The matchup will be broadcast on CUSA.tv. Jason Baker and Kay James will be on the call for the Southern Miss Radio Network, broadcast on 92.7 the Score and presented by Learfield IMG College. Roster cards will be sold in the east concession stand for the game.

Fans are encouraged to follow along on Twitter at @SouthernMissWBB for highlights of the matchup.

The two head coaches met with Mayor Toby Barker in his office to talk about Education Day in late October. You can hear what each of them had to say below:

For Schools

All buses enter through the north side of the circle and pull around to the EAST Gate.
Tickets are encouraged to be purchased prior to the day of the event.
If schools DO NOT have their tickets, one of the administrators will need to go to the North Gate to purchase the tickets. At this time all kids must remain on the bus until they return.
All students will meet with a Ticketing representative to get their tickets scanned and get checked in at the EAST Gate. From there, a marketing representative will escort them to their seats behind the basket.
Once unloaded, buses will stay in M.K. Turk Circle for the entirety of the game.
Following the game, kids will be released by the teachers and loaded back on to their respective buses.
Kids will need to leave their backpacks on the bus. We will still enforce the clear bag policy for Reed Green.
Classes are able to bring in a cooler with their sack lunches in them. These will need to be shown at the door when entering.
No Elementary Students will be admitted entrance into the North Gate. They will only be able to enter through the EAST and possibly SOUTH Gates.

WBB to Open Season With William Carey

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Liz Gibbs

Shonte Hailes

Kelsey Jones

Allie Kennedy

Amber Landing

Alarie Mayze

Jalise Smallwood

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics