Lady Eagles to Start Conference Tournament with Marshall

FRISCO, Texas – The Lady Eagles of Southern Miss women's basketball are poised to start the 2020 Conference USA Championships at the Star on Wednesday in game one of the tournament against Marshall, beginning at 11 a.m. on Court A.

Southern Miss (15-14, 7-11) will take on the Thundering Herd (12-17, 7-11) for the first game of the Championships.

The Lady Eagles go into the tournament as the No. 9 seed, with the Herd being seeded as No. 8. Both were tied at No. 8 for the last week of C-USA play, both with 7-11 Conference records, but the Herd had the advantage in the tiebreaker. Marshall was picked to finish 11th in the C-USA Preseason Poll, while Southern Miss was picked to place eighth.

The series stands with Southern Miss leading 16-9. It will be the 25th all-time meeting between Marshall and the Lady Eagles. The two last met on Feb. 6, 2020, where the Herd defeated Southern Miss at home, 80-65. The Lady Eagles are 2-0 when playing the Herd at a neutral site.

Southern Miss continues to be led by Respect Leaphart in scoring and rebounding, with 423 points this season and 178 rebounds. She is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game. Leaphart was just recently named Second Team All-Conference as part of the postseason awards from C-USA. She hit her 1,000th career point in the last regular-season game against UAB. Daishai Almond is the assists leader for the Lady Eagles, having dished out 113 this season and averaging four per game. Shonte Hailes leads in average points per game with 15.5 despite having missed eight games due to injury.

Marshall is led by Savannah Wheeler in scoring per game with 13.2 points, Khadaijia Brooks in rebounds per game with 5.5, and Wheeler again in assists per game, averaging 2.8. Tony Kemper is in his third season with the Herd. They fell to Florida Atlantic in the last regular-season game on the road, 68-50.

Follow Along
The matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Chris Mycoskie on play-by-play, Mike Petersen as the analyst, and Ashley Pickle as the sideline reporter. Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, will be broadcasting for the Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield IMG College on 92.7 the Score. His broadcast is also available on the Southern Miss Gameday App. Fans are also encouraged to follow the Lady Eagles on Twitter at @SouthernMissWBB for updates and highlights.

Up Next
If the Lady Eagles come away with the victory, they will play the top-seeded Rice on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the Quarterfinals on Court A, broadcast on Stadium.

Lady Eagles to Start Conference Tournament with Marshall

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Players Mentioned

Daishai Almond

Shonte Hailes

Respect Leaphart