Wednesday, November 2
Reed Green Coliseum
6 p.m.
Southern Miss
81
vs
78
Auburn University at Montgomery (Exh.)
Women’s Basketball Overcomes Slow Start to Down AUM in Exhibition
11/2/2022 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Eagles rode a 27-point third quarter to victory as they outlasted the visiting Warhawks 81-78. Melyia Grayson's (Hattiesburg, Miss. / Hattiesburg HS) 21-point/20-board double-double complemented Domonique Davis' (DeRidder, La. / LSU) 28 points and five assists.
After winning the opening tip, the Lady Eagles struggled to gain their offensive footing, but were able to hold the Warhawks off the board for the first minute. AUM wound up striking first with a deep three off the hands of Lilly Parke for the first points of the night at the 8:59 mark.
Southern Miss finally shook off early season jitters with a Melyia Grayson layup through contact just under the eight-minute mark and tied the game after Grayson's free throw converted the three-point play.
The first quarter featured more of the same as the two teams struggled to pull away from one another and the period ended with the Black & Gold holding a narrow 19-18 advantage.
The Alaskan-like shooting performance continued for Southern Miss as the Lady Eagles only managed two points in the first five minutes of the second quarter. AUM led by as many as 11 points—their largest lead of the game—well into the period.
After a few back-and-forth possessions, Lauren Gross (Southaven, Miss. / North Florida) ignited a Lady Eagle scoring bout after drilling a three-pointer to cut the AUM lead to six. Lani Cornfield (Gowanda, N.Y. / Northwest Florida State) followed up Gross' three with her own jumper outside the arc, cutting the deficit to just five.
In the final 1:32, Southern Miss rallied behind two Domonique Davis free throws, a jumper and three-point conversion to take a one point lead into the half.
The third quarter proved to be one painted in black and gold. Southern Miss outscored the Warhawks 27-18 behind 57.9 percent shooting. Davis pushed the Lady Eagles over the half century mark with another layup of her own as the squad rode a 7-0 run to finish the period up 66-56.
The Warhawks hot shooting proved almost too much for the Lady Eagle defense. On the evening, the visitors from Montgomery, Ala. connected on 42.4 percent of their shots and an impressive 52.6 percent from beyond the arc. In total, four Warhawks finished with double figures in scoring.
Despite being outscored 22-15 in the final 10 minutes, Southern Miss never lost its lead.
Southern Miss ended the night 32-of-74 from the field and 7-of-16 from three. Lauren Gross contributed nine points and eight boards and true freshman Chardai Watkins (Panola, Ala. / Sumter Central HS) finished 4-of-6 with 4 rebounds in her Lady Eagle debut. The Lady Eagles dished out 20 helpers, led by Davis' five, and swiped nine steals, led by Grayson's three.
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to action after a quick weekend respite to welcome the cross-town William Carey Crusaders for the Mayor's Cup. The Crusaders most recently fell to South Alabama in exhibition action, 76-31, and will be returning to Hattiesburg after participating in the Southern States Athletic Conference/Sun Conference Challenge in Lakeland, Fla.
Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. from Reed Green Coliseum and the Lady Eagles plan on welcoming over 2,000 local elementary and middle school students for their annual Education Day.
The contest can be streamed on ESPN+ or listened to on 97.2 FM or the Southern Miss Sports Network.
After winning the opening tip, the Lady Eagles struggled to gain their offensive footing, but were able to hold the Warhawks off the board for the first minute. AUM wound up striking first with a deep three off the hands of Lilly Parke for the first points of the night at the 8:59 mark.
Southern Miss finally shook off early season jitters with a Melyia Grayson layup through contact just under the eight-minute mark and tied the game after Grayson's free throw converted the three-point play.
The first quarter featured more of the same as the two teams struggled to pull away from one another and the period ended with the Black & Gold holding a narrow 19-18 advantage.
The Alaskan-like shooting performance continued for Southern Miss as the Lady Eagles only managed two points in the first five minutes of the second quarter. AUM led by as many as 11 points—their largest lead of the game—well into the period.
After a few back-and-forth possessions, Lauren Gross (Southaven, Miss. / North Florida) ignited a Lady Eagle scoring bout after drilling a three-pointer to cut the AUM lead to six. Lani Cornfield (Gowanda, N.Y. / Northwest Florida State) followed up Gross' three with her own jumper outside the arc, cutting the deficit to just five.
In the final 1:32, Southern Miss rallied behind two Domonique Davis free throws, a jumper and three-point conversion to take a one point lead into the half.
The third quarter proved to be one painted in black and gold. Southern Miss outscored the Warhawks 27-18 behind 57.9 percent shooting. Davis pushed the Lady Eagles over the half century mark with another layup of her own as the squad rode a 7-0 run to finish the period up 66-56.
The Warhawks hot shooting proved almost too much for the Lady Eagle defense. On the evening, the visitors from Montgomery, Ala. connected on 42.4 percent of their shots and an impressive 52.6 percent from beyond the arc. In total, four Warhawks finished with double figures in scoring.
Despite being outscored 22-15 in the final 10 minutes, Southern Miss never lost its lead.
Southern Miss ended the night 32-of-74 from the field and 7-of-16 from three. Lauren Gross contributed nine points and eight boards and true freshman Chardai Watkins (Panola, Ala. / Sumter Central HS) finished 4-of-6 with 4 rebounds in her Lady Eagle debut. The Lady Eagles dished out 20 helpers, led by Davis' five, and swiped nine steals, led by Grayson's three.
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to action after a quick weekend respite to welcome the cross-town William Carey Crusaders for the Mayor's Cup. The Crusaders most recently fell to South Alabama in exhibition action, 76-31, and will be returning to Hattiesburg after participating in the Southern States Athletic Conference/Sun Conference Challenge in Lakeland, Fla.
Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. from Reed Green Coliseum and the Lady Eagles plan on welcoming over 2,000 local elementary and middle school students for their annual Education Day.
The contest can be streamed on ESPN+ or listened to on 97.2 FM or the Southern Miss Sports Network.
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