Friday, December 16
Long Beach, Calif. / Walter Pyramid
3 p.m. CST / 1 p.m. PST
Southern Miss
6-4,0-0Sun Belt
50
vs
45
UC Irvine
6-3,0-0Big West
1
2
3
4
F
UC Irvine
5
10
14
16
45
Southern Miss.
9
12
22
7
50
Women’s Basketball Opens Long Beach Classic with 50-45 Win Over UC Irvine
12/16/2022 7:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Southern Miss shook off some demons today at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif., as the Lady Eagles finished off UC Irvine, 50-45, for the squad's first win away from Reed Green Coliseum this season.
"I think we did a great job outrebounding them today, especially in the first half," said Lady Eagle head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "UC Irvine is a very good basketball team and a very different basketball team from what we're used to. They have all kinds of defenses that they throw at you and I thought our team did a good job of recognizing and attacking each one of them."
"I'm proud of our team overall and really proud of how Melyia stepped up for us in the first half. She was a beast for us and scored the basketball really well."
Tale of the Tape
Southern Miss (6-4, 0-0 Sun Belt) used an aggressive defense to force UC Irvine (6-3, 0-0 Big West) into tough shots and capitalized to hold the Anteaters to 15 first half points, the lowest mark of UCI's season. The Lady Eagles took the lead 1:43 into the contest and never surrendered it, only tying twice.
Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss. // Hattiesburg HS) dropped 11 points in the first half en route to a 17-point, seven rebound day. The Hub City sophomore finished 8-of-13 from the floor and led all scorers on the day and was tied with fellow Lady Eagle Femi Funeus (Plantation, Fla.) for most boards.
The third quarter proved to be more of the same for Southern Miss' season as the Lady Eagles outscored the Anteaters 22-14 in the frame, giving the Black & Gold their largest lead of the day with an 18-point margin in the third.
The high-scoring third proved to be just enough of a cushion for the Lady Eagles as UC Irvine went on a seven-point run to open the final stanza, pushing Southern Miss to a four-point margin.
Grayson rose to the occasion on the Anteaters' last true possession, swatting an Anteater layup out of bounds to keep the margin in Southern Miss' favor.
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to action at the Long Beach Classic tomorrow, Dec. 17, for a 3:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. CT) tipoff against the hosts of the tourney, Long Beach State.
The Beach and Lady Eagles' game will be streamed via ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southern Miss Sports Network with the Voice of the Lady Eagles, Jason Baker, on the call.
"I think we did a great job outrebounding them today, especially in the first half," said Lady Eagle head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "UC Irvine is a very good basketball team and a very different basketball team from what we're used to. They have all kinds of defenses that they throw at you and I thought our team did a good job of recognizing and attacking each one of them."
"I'm proud of our team overall and really proud of how Melyia stepped up for us in the first half. She was a beast for us and scored the basketball really well."
Tale of the Tape
Southern Miss (6-4, 0-0 Sun Belt) used an aggressive defense to force UC Irvine (6-3, 0-0 Big West) into tough shots and capitalized to hold the Anteaters to 15 first half points, the lowest mark of UCI's season. The Lady Eagles took the lead 1:43 into the contest and never surrendered it, only tying twice.
Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss. // Hattiesburg HS) dropped 11 points in the first half en route to a 17-point, seven rebound day. The Hub City sophomore finished 8-of-13 from the floor and led all scorers on the day and was tied with fellow Lady Eagle Femi Funeus (Plantation, Fla.) for most boards.
The third quarter proved to be more of the same for Southern Miss' season as the Lady Eagles outscored the Anteaters 22-14 in the frame, giving the Black & Gold their largest lead of the day with an 18-point margin in the third.
The high-scoring third proved to be just enough of a cushion for the Lady Eagles as UC Irvine went on a seven-point run to open the final stanza, pushing Southern Miss to a four-point margin.
Grayson rose to the occasion on the Anteaters' last true possession, swatting an Anteater layup out of bounds to keep the margin in Southern Miss' favor.
Up Next
Southern Miss returns to action at the Long Beach Classic tomorrow, Dec. 17, for a 3:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. CT) tipoff against the hosts of the tourney, Long Beach State.
The Beach and Lady Eagles' game will be streamed via ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southern Miss Sports Network with the Voice of the Lady Eagles, Jason Baker, on the call.
Team Stats
Irvine
USM
FG%
.309
.412
3FG%
.233
.000
FT%
.667
.727
RB
28
38
TO
18
20
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
4
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Forward
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