Lady Eagles Take Down FAU 67-45

Saturday, February 2

Reed Green Coliseum

4 p.m.

Southern Miss

13-10, 5-5

Florida Atlantic

4-18, 1-8

Florida Atlantic

Southern Miss

Lady Eagles Take Down FAU 67-45

2/2/2019 5:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Southern Miss wins fourth in a row and fifth in the last six games.

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Eagles defeated the Florida Atlantic Owls on Saturday afternoon in Reed Green Coliseum, earning the win with a final score of 67-45.

It was the fourth game the Lady Eagles have won in a row, and the fifth win in the last six games. It is also the sixth consecutive game where the Lady Eagles have held their opponent to less than 60 points.

Southern Miss (13-10, 5-5 C-USA) was led again by veteran Shonte Hailes who put up four 3-pointers, finishing the night with 24 points. The Lady Eagles started out the first quarter down 2-6 but finished it off with a 22-0 run with a buzzer beating 3-pointer by Hailes. The second quarter was low scoring for both the Owls and the Lady Eagles. The third quarter was started with an 8-0 run, eventually cut by the Owls, but went on to finish the game with a total of 22 points up on FAU. Kennedy Gavin had a career night, posting 18 points.

Postgame Thoughts: Coach Joye Lee-McNelis
We started this season's conference play 0-4 and I think ever since that point we've found ourselves. We've faced some really good teams early, we've faced some really good teams late. We've continued to get better as a team. The start of that is truly the play of Shonte Hailes. She's elevated her play to a totally different level. She's playing with a tremendous amount of confidence and she's leading our team in every aspect of the game and I think that's the difference. That being said, I think our team collectively, as a unit, is playing much better. It's been different players different nights, and tonight it was Kennedy Gavin, the local star. She stepped up and had a career-high tonight which is huge for her. She has really put in some time to continue to improve. Alarie Mayze is our silent assassin because doesn't score the points but she's the defender. She's the on-ball defender that really gets after it and cranks it up defensively and shuts down the opponents best player. It's been different players different nights. Amber Landing with her length that alters shots inside. We are only good as a team. We don't really have rock stars, but Shonte Hailes is quickly becoming that on our team because of her leadership and she's playing really well right now. As a team we've really grown. It's like how that saying goes - "coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress". With only one game this week that's the challenge - keeping together. I'm giving them the day off tomorrow and we'll take off Wednesday because we've missed some class so we're trying to catch up early academically. Next week we'll miss three days of school. It's very important we understand keeping together is progress. My speech to them in the locker room was that we must remain uncomfortable, you cannot get comfortable with anything you're doing individually or as a team because once you get comfortable, you have a tendency to stop working. As a staff, we're not going to allow that to happen. We're going to keep on your behind and push you to the next level. It is our job to that. It's up to them individually to enjoy the success that we're having but understand what the big picture is - a Conference championship. You have to do it one game at a time and one practice at a time, and you can't ever be satisfied. It's been a good teachable moment for us down this stretch that focus and concentration in your work ethic has to be there every single day for us to improve. Because of those teachable moments, it gives us the opportunity to enjoy some success because some of those are learning those teachable moments. Today's game was huge. Shonte Hailes - great game. Kennedy Gavin coming off the bench was huge for us with 14 points. That first quarter, that was huge. That was a lot of fun. Our defense generated our transition offense and holy smokes, we looked really good and I was really excited. That stretch defensively and offensively, I told them if I wouldn't have pulled a muscle I might've cut a somersault on the sideline. I told them, "I want you to understand, that's what we can become. That has to happen everyday. You don't let people stop you, you press on in those situations." That second half, we didn't attack their defense very well, we kind of got comfortable, and those are things we're trying to teach them. They made a great comeback and Coach Jim Jabir is a tremendous coach at FAU, he does a great job. They made some defensive changes at halftime, they came roaring back at us, cutting it to 13, cutting it to 10, and we didn't respond for a few possessions. I had to call timeouts, kind of yank them up, get them back, refocused, and we were able to respond and go from a 13- to a 17-point game. I think a lot of that part had to do with Alarie Mayze making some great defensive possessions.

Number one, it helps build confidence [being on a four-game win streak]. Confidence, no matter what you do in life, helps you do better because we all as human beings enjoy praise. So gaining confidence and getting praise is so important. But us as coaches, in our profession, we have to give them that confidence and that praise, but we can't allow them to get comfortable. We've got to keep them uncomfortable and continue to challenge them going forward. The four game winning streak? That's "coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress." That's what this segment was. Now we've got to keep it together.

The biggest takeaway from tonight - it's truly a team. Different players stepped up and made different plays. In our game against FIU, it was different players. Big shots by Allie Kennedy, big shots by Kelsey Jones, plays by Imani Carter, plays by Respect Leaphart and Megan Brown. Tonight it was plays by Kennedy Gavin that came in and made big shots. The play of Shonte Hailes definitely was the most consistent of anybody, but I think the bench play of Kennedy Gavin was truly the difference-maker. I think we walk away from this weekend and think, "yes, our team is beginning to thrive as we are growing together."

Kennedy Gavin
I just knew coming off the bench I had to bring some type of energy. These last couple of games we've been running transition and getting layups. So I thought, "shoot, let's run tonight." So I just knew that was going to be a big factor tonight in the game, getting buckets in transition. The biggest key was for me to come off the bench and bring some type of energy to my teammates. It's all about the energy. When you're coming off the bench you're either going to keep it the same or bring it up so we take big pride in that. We have some pretty athletic people on our team so why not get out and run? That's the easiest way to win to me. It feels great and it's crazy to me that I'm a Lady Eagle. To be on this court, to be coached by Coach McNelis, it's crazy. Shonte Hailes, she's fun to watch. When I see her playing like she has that's just motivation for me, I want to be a part of that. If I can find any way to help her score 20-something every night then I'll do that. Whatever she's doing, whatever her pregame routine is, she needs to keep doing it because these 20-point games are looking pretty good. When I see her go, it makes me want to go.

Up Next
The Lady Eagles head to Ruston, La. to face LA Tech on Friday afternoon at 1pm.