Saturday, March 7
Birmingham, Ala. / Bartow Arena
2 p.m.
Southern Miss
15-14
46
at
90
UAB
20-10
1
2
3
4
F
Southern Miss
8
14
15
9
46
UAB
21
21
25
23
90
Photo by: Prizm Photography
Lady Eagles Conclude Regular-Season with Loss at UAB
3/7/2020 4:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Lady Eagles fell 90-46 to the Blazers in Bartow Arena.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Lady Eagles of Southern Miss women's basketball fell on Saturday afternoon to UAB in a 90-46 decision to conclude regular-season play.
Southern Miss (15-14, 7-11) at the hands of the Blazers (20-10, 12-6) in Bartow Arena on UAB's Senior Day, but had a great milestone accomplished by one of their own seniors: Respect Leaphart.
In the fourth quarter, Leaphart scored her 12th point of the game with a good jumper from inside the paint. With that shot, she became the 29th Lady Eagle to join the 1,000 Point Club. She went into the contest needing only 11 to hit it, but went the extra mile and came away with 1,001 points.
She and fellow senior Shonte Hailes join five other Lady Eagle pairs to join the Club in the same season as another teammate: Shirley Jones and Pam McCoy in 1980-81, Portland McCaskill and Joye Lee-McNelis in 1983-84, Gina Griffin and Renee Magee in 1989-90, Amber Eugene and Kendra Reed in 2007-08, and Tamara Jones and Jerontay Clemons in 2014-15.
The Blazers won the tip and saw the first points, but not too long after, Kelsey Jones started the scoring for the Lady Eagles with a good jumper. UAB would score three treys during the frame, and four points from the Lady Eagles came from inside the paint. Scoring for Southern Miss were Jones, Amber Landing, Daishai Almond, and Alarie Mayze in that first quarter. The Lady Eagles would come back from a five-point deficit early to cut it to one with 5:45 to go, but UAB finished the quarter up by 13, 21-8.
The second quarter saw a little more fight from Southern Miss, with good clean possessions to start the frame from Jones and Respect Leaphart. They would both continue working through the first five minutes, but UAB would manage to take a 16-point line with just under five to go behind a Rachael Childress three-pointer and jumpers from Miyah Barnes and Trista Magee. Magee would hit a three-ball to make it 35-18 with 4:10 left on the clock, and Southern Miss wouldn't score from the floor again until the :56 second mark when Destiny Smith dropped in a layup. The Lady Eagles would score two points from the foul line before that from Smith and Amber Landing. The quarter would finish out with a score of 42-22 going into the half.
Out of the break, Daishai Almond kicked it off with a good jumper and put up a good free throw shot. The Blazers threw up two three-pointers, but Southern Miss saw Shonte Hailes answer the last with one of her own. Leaphart would make it 50-30 with 5:33 left in the quarter. UAB would put up two-straight threes from Childress and then Magee. The Blazer lead continued to climb but the Lady Eagles could be seen making great offensive rebounds and taking good looks. The third would end at 67-37 in UAB's favor.
The fourth saw UAB sending the Lady Eagles to the line several times, but also saw the Blazers make three more treys. Leaphart made that final layup to solidify her spot in the 1,000 Point Club, but the Blazers would score once more to finish out the contest at 90-46. UAB's bench scored 21 points that quarter.
"Sometimes, it's just not your day," said Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "They made shots. They shot almost 60% for the game. It took about 15 shots for Respect to get her 1,000th point and that sets the stage. Our seniors didn't do very well today. Shonte Hailes was the one senior who had some energy and played well for us. I think the one bright spot for us was the effort and energy from Destiny Smith, I thought she played very hard. Our whole goal is that she will eventually be the one to replace Alarie Mayze. To be that defensive stopper, to be that rebounder and I think that's exactly what she was today. We just did not play very smart, we didn't play very good team defense or team offense."
On Hitting 1,000 Points
"Obviously it's a big accomplishment," said Respect Leaphart. "I have to thank my teammates for giving me the ball to make it happen. A lot has gone into it over these last four years, so it's just a big accomplishment and I just had to give my all. We've just got to go harder now."
Up Next
The Lady Eagles will travel to Frisco, Texas to compete in the Conference USA Championships, taking place from Mar. 11-14 in the Star. Because of how the rest of the league's games shook out, the Lady Eagles will be the No. 9 seed going into the tournament. FAU defeated Marshall, and LA Tech was defeated by Western Kentucky to have it play out that way. Southern Miss will play in the 11 a.m. game on Wednesday morning. A full bracket and schedule will be released at a later date.
Southern Miss (15-14, 7-11) at the hands of the Blazers (20-10, 12-6) in Bartow Arena on UAB's Senior Day, but had a great milestone accomplished by one of their own seniors: Respect Leaphart.
In the fourth quarter, Leaphart scored her 12th point of the game with a good jumper from inside the paint. With that shot, she became the 29th Lady Eagle to join the 1,000 Point Club. She went into the contest needing only 11 to hit it, but went the extra mile and came away with 1,001 points.
She and fellow senior Shonte Hailes join five other Lady Eagle pairs to join the Club in the same season as another teammate: Shirley Jones and Pam McCoy in 1980-81, Portland McCaskill and Joye Lee-McNelis in 1983-84, Gina Griffin and Renee Magee in 1989-90, Amber Eugene and Kendra Reed in 2007-08, and Tamara Jones and Jerontay Clemons in 2014-15.
The Blazers won the tip and saw the first points, but not too long after, Kelsey Jones started the scoring for the Lady Eagles with a good jumper. UAB would score three treys during the frame, and four points from the Lady Eagles came from inside the paint. Scoring for Southern Miss were Jones, Amber Landing, Daishai Almond, and Alarie Mayze in that first quarter. The Lady Eagles would come back from a five-point deficit early to cut it to one with 5:45 to go, but UAB finished the quarter up by 13, 21-8.
The second quarter saw a little more fight from Southern Miss, with good clean possessions to start the frame from Jones and Respect Leaphart. They would both continue working through the first five minutes, but UAB would manage to take a 16-point line with just under five to go behind a Rachael Childress three-pointer and jumpers from Miyah Barnes and Trista Magee. Magee would hit a three-ball to make it 35-18 with 4:10 left on the clock, and Southern Miss wouldn't score from the floor again until the :56 second mark when Destiny Smith dropped in a layup. The Lady Eagles would score two points from the foul line before that from Smith and Amber Landing. The quarter would finish out with a score of 42-22 going into the half.
Out of the break, Daishai Almond kicked it off with a good jumper and put up a good free throw shot. The Blazers threw up two three-pointers, but Southern Miss saw Shonte Hailes answer the last with one of her own. Leaphart would make it 50-30 with 5:33 left in the quarter. UAB would put up two-straight threes from Childress and then Magee. The Blazer lead continued to climb but the Lady Eagles could be seen making great offensive rebounds and taking good looks. The third would end at 67-37 in UAB's favor.
The fourth saw UAB sending the Lady Eagles to the line several times, but also saw the Blazers make three more treys. Leaphart made that final layup to solidify her spot in the 1,000 Point Club, but the Blazers would score once more to finish out the contest at 90-46. UAB's bench scored 21 points that quarter.
"Sometimes, it's just not your day," said Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "They made shots. They shot almost 60% for the game. It took about 15 shots for Respect to get her 1,000th point and that sets the stage. Our seniors didn't do very well today. Shonte Hailes was the one senior who had some energy and played well for us. I think the one bright spot for us was the effort and energy from Destiny Smith, I thought she played very hard. Our whole goal is that she will eventually be the one to replace Alarie Mayze. To be that defensive stopper, to be that rebounder and I think that's exactly what she was today. We just did not play very smart, we didn't play very good team defense or team offense."
On Hitting 1,000 Points
"Obviously it's a big accomplishment," said Respect Leaphart. "I have to thank my teammates for giving me the ball to make it happen. A lot has gone into it over these last four years, so it's just a big accomplishment and I just had to give my all. We've just got to go harder now."
Up Next
The Lady Eagles will travel to Frisco, Texas to compete in the Conference USA Championships, taking place from Mar. 11-14 in the Star. Because of how the rest of the league's games shook out, the Lady Eagles will be the No. 9 seed going into the tournament. FAU defeated Marshall, and LA Tech was defeated by Western Kentucky to have it play out that way. Southern Miss will play in the 11 a.m. game on Wednesday morning. A full bracket and schedule will be released at a later date.
Team Stats
USM
UABWBB
FG%
.328
.590
3FG%
.111
.452
FT%
.467
.667
RB
29
41
TO
12
11
STL
8
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's BasketballCenter
/ Women's Basketball
Center
/ Women's BasketballForward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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