University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
-20,00 CUSA
ULM
0-1,0-0Sun Belt
Davis Pushes Southern Miss Past ULM
11/13/2021 7:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – In a battle of future Sun Belt Conference teams, the Lady Eagles of Southern Miss women's basketball rose to the occasion behind a 20-point performance from junior Domonique Davis to defeat the Warhawks of ULM, 77-60, on Saturday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum.
"We went to our matchup zone in the fourth quarter and I really thought that made the difference," McNelis said. "I thought that was the key to holding them without a score on multiple trips down the floor. We took what we talked about at halftime and applied it in the second half. I think that's the growth process of this team."
Southern Miss struggled out of the gates, as the Lady Eagles went just 3-of-14 from the field and turned the ball over six times in the opening 10 minutes of play to trail ULM by four.
It was then that Davis took over the game, as she quickly erased the deficit with a personal 4-0 run to tie the game within the first minute of the second quarter of play. The Lady Eagles pushed the lead to eight midway through the frame, but ULM answered each run that Southern Miss made and trim the lead to just one as the two teams went into half with USM clinging to a 34-33 lead.
After trading blows in the third quarter, Southern Miss switched to their matchup zone defense and were able to open the final quarter of play on a 9-0 run, including a pair of buckets from Davis. The Lady Eagles allowed the Warhawks to go only 2-of-14 over the final 10 minutes of play, outscoring ULM 22-7, to secure the victory.
Davis led all scorers with her 20 points, and was joined by Rose Warren (14) and Brikayla Gray (12) in double figures for Southern Miss. The DeRidder, La. product also grabbed seven rebounds, while dishing out six assists. Conference USA Co-Freshman of the Year Melyia Grayson just missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.
As a team, the Lady Eagles went to the free-throw line 43 times and converted on 27, marking the most attempts from the charity strip since taking 40 against Florida A&M back in 2013.
Up next, Southern Miss will hit the road for the first time this season to face Alabama on Nov. 17. Tipoff from Coleman Coliseum is set for 6 p.m.
