Lady Eagles Find Down-to-the-Wire Win at LA Tech

Thursday, February 20

Ruston, La. / Thomas Assembly Center

6:30 p.m.

Southern Miss

-1411,68 CUSA

Louisiana Tech

-1213,410 CUSA

Southern Miss.

Louisiana Tech

Lady Eagles Find Down-to-the-Wire Win at LA Tech

2/20/2020 8:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Southern Miss makes it three-straight on the road in Ruston.

RUSTON, La. – The Lady Eagles of Southern Miss women's basketball defeated LA Tech on their home turf Thursday night, 63-61, in a fight to the finish.

Southern Miss (14-11, 6-8) had a second half for the books en route to taking down the Lady Techsters (12-13, 4-10). The win marks the first time the Lady Eagles have swept the series in a season, and the first time USM has won three-straight contests against LA Tech. Up until this matchup, Southern Miss hadn't won inside Thomas Assembly Center since Jan. 4, 2015 when they won in overtime.

The Lady Eagles' takedown of the Lady Techsters means that they have won three-straight contests, all which took place on the road. Against LA Tech, Southern Miss was led by senior Respect Leaphart in points and rebounds with 22 points and a near-double-double with eight rebounds. She and Alarie Mayze both recorded three steals. Mayze and Kelsey Jones were the other two Lady Eagles to have double-digit scoring, both with 10 points. Southern Miss was led in assists by Daishai Almond, who had five.

To start out the contest, Southern Miss won the tip and Leaphart made the first basket. The Lady Eagles saw a trey from Allie Kennedy, and two straight 3-pointers from Mayze. Before her senior season, Mayze had only made six 3-pointers at Southern Miss. As of now, the Texas native has made 26 in her senior campaign. To finish the quarter, the Lady Eagles were down by just three points. LA Tech had made 12 of their 18 points in the paint that frame. The second quarter saw a lead as big as seven from the Lady Techsters, but Southern Miss was able to shave it down to just five going into the half. Imani Carter made an impact throughout that frame, recording a block as well as shooting a jump shot and her first three-pointer of the season back-to-back. By that first half, the Lady Eagles had managed to keep pace with LA Tech, as both teams recorded 15 rebounds and seven assists. Southern Miss had four blocks going into the half, with two coming from senior Amber Landing.

The third quarter was won by the Lady Eagles, who finished the quarter up by five at 51-46. The Lady Eagle came out swinging, starting off down by three and cutting it away within the first two minutes behind Almond, Mayze and Leaphart. Kelsey Jones helped push the Lady Eagles up by six going into the final five minutes of the frame. Landing put the finishing touches on the quarter with a buzzer-beating jump shot. Southern Miss made 16 of their 23 points in the paint that quarter, with seven second-chance points. Leaphart owned nine of those 23 points, with counterpart Almond being responsible for another six. The Lady Eagles shot 57.9 percent from the floor during the frame and held the Lady Techsters to just 30 percent. With a seven-point lead at the 1:27 mark of the third, the Lady Eagles didn't give up the lead for the rest of the game.

Once again, Leaphart and Jones tag-teamed the fourth quarter, dominating the floor. The Lady Eagles led for the majority of that final frame, going into the latter five minutes of the quarter up by six. LA Tech called a timeout which turned into a media, and when they came out of it, the Lady Techsters were able to chip away at the USM lead, eventually tying it back up at 59-all with 1:40 to go. Jones put the Lady Eagles back up by two with a good layup, and LA Tech wasn't able to counter until they made a fast break layup with 13 seconds on the clock. Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis called a timeout to put her battle plan out for her troops, and came out with a drawn foul and a singular made free throw. LA Tech would take their full 60 second timeout with 10 seconds to play. Guinto of the Lady Techsters would take a 3-point shot with just two seconds on the clock, but a defensive stop by Jalise Smallwood ended the contest in the Lady Eagles' favor.

Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis
"It's been a long time," said Joye Lee-McNelis in reference to their last time to win in Thomas Assembly Center. "It is so hard to hear in this arena. They're band is loud, and the way it echos, you're just yelling at the top of your lungs to get your players to see and understand what you want. I thought we played an okay first half; Imani Carter came in and gave us a great surge. I'm proud that Imani gave us a big surge in there, she hit that shot and made a great drive to the rim, and it was a huge plus for us. Jalise Smallwood also gave us some energy off the bench and Kelsey Jones was solid. We get back rolling out of the half, and Alarie Mayze defensively was very good. The third quarter was huge for us. We were able to make some things happen defensively and got some things going the other way, and we executed some offense. It was to perfection sometimes. We played with a lot of poise in that third quarter.

On Daishai Almond
Daishai Almond has been the soldier, she's been able to push through. She rallied through tonight and she did a great job with leadership. We've challenged her and she's been taking ownership. I'm just proud she's staying true to the course and trusting the process.

On being without Shonte Hailes
"Our staff has not changed, I am still as demanding as I've ever been. I see so much in them and what they are capable of doing. We've never wavered, we've never used Shonte as an excuse - that we don't have her. We have challenged them every single day and have pushed them and they have bought in to saying 'we will not be denied' and they have continued to grind. It's nothing we've done differently as coaches, it's that they have decided 'let's get it done'. The three we've won have gone to the wire, we have found a way to win. We can draw it up, but they have to make the bucket, they have to make the defensive stop. They have continued to be resilient and continued to fight, day and night. I can't say enough of how proud I am, not only of our starters that have been difference-makers, but of our bench. It's been different ones every game. Everybody's got a piece of the pie."

Up Next
The Lady Eagles hit the hardwood at home for the first time in three games on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. when they take on Charlotte. It is senior day for Southern Miss, where the four seniors of Shonte Hailes, Amber Landing, Respect Leaphart, and Alarie Mayze will be honored postgame for their achievements. It's a quadruple-header day for Southern Miss Athletics, and the Weekend Warrior ticket package is now available for fans to buy one ticket that grants entry to men's basketball (12 p.m.), baseball (2 p.m.) and women's basketball.