Lady Eagles Start Texas Two-Step at UNT

DENTON, Texas – Southern Miss women's basketball starts off a Texas road trip with North Texas for a Thursday night matchup in the Super Pit. Tip is set for 7 p.m. in Denton.

Southern Miss (10-4, 2-1) takes on North Texas (7-9, 1-3) for the first time since postseason last year. The Lady Eagles come off an 82-65 win over UTSA, having improved their conference record. Respect Leaphart led Southern Miss in scoring with her second 19-point game of the season, while redshirt sophomore Kelsey Jones recorded her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Both Leaphart and senior Shonte Hailes were just a few rebounds away from double-doubles of their own. Hailes still leads the team in scoring, Jones in rebounds, and Daishai Almond is leading in assists.

North Texas is on a three-game losing streak, having lost to Marshall at home and both Florida schools on the road, most recently at Florida Atlantic. UNT has six new faces on their squad since the 2018-19 season. At the helm of the program is Jalie Mitchell who is in her fifth year as the head coach of her alma mater in Denton. The Mean Green is led by Anisha George in both points and rebounds with 157 and 122, respectively. N'Yah Boyd leads in assists with 34. As of Saturday, Jan. 11, North Texas is leading the league in offensive rebounds per game, as well as rebounds and rebounds per game. North Texas owns the series by a slim margin at 5-4, but Southern Miss looks to change that on Thursday.

Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis
"We're making some strides, we really are. There's a lot of parity in the league, so what we're looking for is a level of consistency. Our challenge to our team today was, "do we want to stay where we are?" It's not real difficult: you've got to board the ball, get offensive possessions, keep them off the glass. Am I pleased where we are? Yes. But we have to look at what has to change. We have to find a level of consistency. I'm not sure what North Texas team will show up but we're going to bust our butts."

Coach McNelis on Going on the Road
"You've got to be mentally ready to go when we get on the road. We've got to make changes as coaches and as players so we can make things happen. Playing on the road is truly mental rather than physical. When that game tips, you've got to be the toughest player on the floor."

Follow Along
The Voice of the Lady Eagles Jason Baker will be on the call from the Super Pit, broadcasting on 92.7 the Score on the Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield IMG College. The game will also be streamed live on CUSA.com. Fans are encouraged to follow along with the high points of the game by following the official Twitter account of the Lady Eagles at @SouthernMissWBB.

Up Next
The Lady Eagles will continue the Texas trip by heading south to Rice in Houston, Texas. Southern Miss will face the owls for a Saturday mid-afternoon contest, with tip set to start at 2 p.m.

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics

Lady Eagles Start Texas Two-Step at UNT

Players Mentioned

Daishai Almond

Shonte Hailes

Kelsey Jones

Respect Leaphart

Related Videos