Saturday, November 26
Reed Green Coliseum
5 p.m.
Southern Miss
4-2,0-0Sun Belt
56
vs
48
Lamar
3-2,0-0Southland
1
2
3
4
F
Lamar University
15
8
10
15
48
Southern Miss.
13
10
21
12
56
Lady Eagles Emerge Victorious in Defensive Battle Against Lamar, Finish Weekend Undefeated
11/26/2022 10:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss women's basketball returned to old form in a resounding 56-48 victory over Lamar in the finale of the 2022 Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic. Lamar's 48 points are the fewest allowed since giving up 50 to UTSA last season.
"Early on, we just couldn't get our buckets—we had to work for all our buckets—but we didn't get down by too much," said 19th-year head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "We were never down eight, we were never down 10. We won that second and third quarter. I thought that was our best defensive output of the entire year. That's been the real struggle for us so far—people have scored at will. This gave us an opportunity to keep them of balance and we capitalized."
Tale of the Tape
The game began in an all-to-familiar fashion as Southern Miss (4-2, 0-0 Sun Belt) found itself struggling early offensively to the visiting Cardinals of Lamar (3-2, 0-0 Southland). The Lady Eagles' first bucket would not come until the 8:12 mark in the first quarter after a long ball from Jacorriah Bracey (Drew, Miss. // Ole Miss) made it a 4-3 game.
Southern Miss found itself down by as much as eight points before mounting a come back in the final three minutes of the quarter to make it a 13-15 Lamar advantage heading into the second. Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss. // Hattiesburg HS) made her first appearance since Nov. 16 at Ole Miss.
Grayson finished the evening with 15 points and eight rebounds along with one assist, two steals and a block in her return. All of her 25 minutes came off the bench.
Southern Miss' struggles continued into the second quarter as the Lady Eagles spent the first five minutes of the frame 0-of-7 from the floor, losing four possessions to turnovers. However, the Black & Gold's defensive effort rose to the occasion, allowing just eight points from Lamar to keep the margin tight.
At the halftime horn, the game stood tied at 23 thanks in large part to Southern Miss' defense with four minutes left to play. Lani Cornfield (Gowanda, N.Y. // Northwest Florida State) forced a Lamar turnover on an inbound pass. The rest of the Black & Gold forced four turnovers in the last four minutes and kept Lamar out of the net for the final 4:23 of the half.
Lamar locked down Domonique Davis (DeRidder, La. // LSU) in the first half, keeping scoreless and 0-of-6 from the field. Bracey rose to cover the missing piece, scoring 10 in the first half, including two three pointers.
The third quarter started slow once again as Southern Miss trailed going into the under-five media timeout. Davis grabbed her first points of the day on a second chance putback in the paint to knot things up at 27 all.
Davis dropped a total of 13 points in the second half and dished out five assists on the game. Her efforts helped Southern Miss outscore the Cardinals 16-4 in the final five minutes of the quarter.
The Lady Eagle run continued into the fourth as Southern Miss held a 14-point advantage, its largest lead of the day, with 6:55 left in the contest.
Lamar continued to battle, coming as close as eight points away from the lead thrice, but Southern Miss matched each punch down to the final seconds.
Bracey's 16 points, a career-high, led both teams and were closely followed by Grayson's 15 points. Grayson led both squads with eight boards. Davis' five assists were also the most of either team.
Up Next
McNelis & Co. finish their homestand Wednesday, Nov. 30 against one of its oldest foes in Mississippi College. Doors open at 5 p.m. with tipoff set for 6 p.m. at Reed Green Coliseum.
As always, Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, will be on the call with Kay James. The game can also be streamed via ESPN+ with Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd as commentators.
"Early on, we just couldn't get our buckets—we had to work for all our buckets—but we didn't get down by too much," said 19th-year head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "We were never down eight, we were never down 10. We won that second and third quarter. I thought that was our best defensive output of the entire year. That's been the real struggle for us so far—people have scored at will. This gave us an opportunity to keep them of balance and we capitalized."
Tale of the Tape
The game began in an all-to-familiar fashion as Southern Miss (4-2, 0-0 Sun Belt) found itself struggling early offensively to the visiting Cardinals of Lamar (3-2, 0-0 Southland). The Lady Eagles' first bucket would not come until the 8:12 mark in the first quarter after a long ball from Jacorriah Bracey (Drew, Miss. // Ole Miss) made it a 4-3 game.
Southern Miss found itself down by as much as eight points before mounting a come back in the final three minutes of the quarter to make it a 13-15 Lamar advantage heading into the second. Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss. // Hattiesburg HS) made her first appearance since Nov. 16 at Ole Miss.
Grayson finished the evening with 15 points and eight rebounds along with one assist, two steals and a block in her return. All of her 25 minutes came off the bench.
Southern Miss' struggles continued into the second quarter as the Lady Eagles spent the first five minutes of the frame 0-of-7 from the floor, losing four possessions to turnovers. However, the Black & Gold's defensive effort rose to the occasion, allowing just eight points from Lamar to keep the margin tight.
At the halftime horn, the game stood tied at 23 thanks in large part to Southern Miss' defense with four minutes left to play. Lani Cornfield (Gowanda, N.Y. // Northwest Florida State) forced a Lamar turnover on an inbound pass. The rest of the Black & Gold forced four turnovers in the last four minutes and kept Lamar out of the net for the final 4:23 of the half.
Lamar locked down Domonique Davis (DeRidder, La. // LSU) in the first half, keeping scoreless and 0-of-6 from the field. Bracey rose to cover the missing piece, scoring 10 in the first half, including two three pointers.
The third quarter started slow once again as Southern Miss trailed going into the under-five media timeout. Davis grabbed her first points of the day on a second chance putback in the paint to knot things up at 27 all.
Davis dropped a total of 13 points in the second half and dished out five assists on the game. Her efforts helped Southern Miss outscore the Cardinals 16-4 in the final five minutes of the quarter.
The Lady Eagle run continued into the fourth as Southern Miss held a 14-point advantage, its largest lead of the day, with 6:55 left in the contest.
Lamar continued to battle, coming as close as eight points away from the lead thrice, but Southern Miss matched each punch down to the final seconds.
Bracey's 16 points, a career-high, led both teams and were closely followed by Grayson's 15 points. Grayson led both squads with eight boards. Davis' five assists were also the most of either team.
Up Next
McNelis & Co. finish their homestand Wednesday, Nov. 30 against one of its oldest foes in Mississippi College. Doors open at 5 p.m. with tipoff set for 6 p.m. at Reed Green Coliseum.
As always, Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, will be on the call with Kay James. The game can also be streamed via ESPN+ with Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd as commentators.
Team Stats
Lamar
USM
FG%
.353
.418
3FG%
.294
.231
FT%
.778
.700
RB
29
38
TO
20
18
STL
7
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballCenter
/ Women's BasketballMissy Bilderback Presser - March 27, 2025
Thursday, March 27
Jeremy McClain Presser - March 27, 2025
Thursday, March 27
Missy Bilderback Introductory Press Conference
Thursday, March 27
Thank You Coach Joye Lee-McNelis
Saturday, March 01