Saturday, November 25
Reed Green Coliseum
4 p.m.
Southern Miss
6-0,0-0Sun Belt
51
vs
33
Samford
4-2,0-0SoCon
1
2
3
4
F
Samford
16
6
3
8
33
Southern Miss.
10
10
19
12
51
Historic Defensive Performance Propels Southern Miss Over Samford
11/25/2023 7:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss turned in its greatest defensive performance in school history in a 51-33 win over Samford. The Lady Eagles move to 6-0 on the season-and for the first time since 2007-and sweep the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic.
"What a defensive game," said 20th-year head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "Really, on both sides of the ball I thought we did a great job. Defensively, I thought Samford did a great job defensively. Eventually we were able to get some things going offensively; I don't know how many layups we missed, but I know it was a bunch of shots at the rim and we could have busted this thing open. We could have laid down and died at the end of the second quarter, but we didn't. We fought and we kept it close, and I just felt like if we could ever get over the hump, we'd win."
Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss.) led all scorers and rebounders with 15 points and 14 rebounds, respectively, marking her 11th career double-double. Grayson, along with Noelani Cornfield (Gowanda, N.Y.) and Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) made the All-Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic Team and Domonique Davis (DeRidder, La.) took home the tournament's MVP honors.
Samford (4-2, 0-0 SoCon) cruised through the first quarter, hitting back-to-back threes to take its first lead of the day at 6-2. The Bulldogs would hold on to the lead until the 6:38 mark in the third quarter at which Southern Miss (6-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) took the last lead of the day and stormed off to an 18-point win.
Of the Bulldogs' 33 points, 16 came in the first quarter and 22 in the first half, meaning Southern Miss held Samford to just 11 points in the final 20 minutes. Thirty-three points allowed is the fewest points allowed in Lady Eagle history as a Division I program, passing the previous mark of 34.
Southern Miss shot an efficient 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) in the second half and forced 12 Samford turnovers while holding the Bulldogs to 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from the floor and 0-of-10 from behind the arc.
36TH ANNUAL LADY EAGLE THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
The 36th Annual Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic featured two teams making their debuts in North Dakota and North Texas. Samford is now 1-2 all-time in the tournament and Southern Miss moves to 60-11 in the event overall and 30-9 under McNelis.
The full All-LETC Team consisted of Gray, Grayson, Cornfield and North Texas' DesiRay Kernal and Tommisha Lampkin. Domonique Davis earned MVP honors.
UP NEXT
Southern Miss enjoys a week off after playing four games in eight days. The next time out for the Lady Eagles will come on Saturday, Dec. 2, against No. 24/23 Ole Miss at Reed Green Coliseum. Tipoff against the Rebels is set for 2 p.m. and the game will mark Southern Miss' annual Lung Cancer Awareness Game.
"What a defensive game," said 20th-year head coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "Really, on both sides of the ball I thought we did a great job. Defensively, I thought Samford did a great job defensively. Eventually we were able to get some things going offensively; I don't know how many layups we missed, but I know it was a bunch of shots at the rim and we could have busted this thing open. We could have laid down and died at the end of the second quarter, but we didn't. We fought and we kept it close, and I just felt like if we could ever get over the hump, we'd win."
Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss.) led all scorers and rebounders with 15 points and 14 rebounds, respectively, marking her 11th career double-double. Grayson, along with Noelani Cornfield (Gowanda, N.Y.) and Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) made the All-Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic Team and Domonique Davis (DeRidder, La.) took home the tournament's MVP honors.
Samford (4-2, 0-0 SoCon) cruised through the first quarter, hitting back-to-back threes to take its first lead of the day at 6-2. The Bulldogs would hold on to the lead until the 6:38 mark in the third quarter at which Southern Miss (6-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) took the last lead of the day and stormed off to an 18-point win.
Of the Bulldogs' 33 points, 16 came in the first quarter and 22 in the first half, meaning Southern Miss held Samford to just 11 points in the final 20 minutes. Thirty-three points allowed is the fewest points allowed in Lady Eagle history as a Division I program, passing the previous mark of 34.
Southern Miss shot an efficient 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) in the second half and forced 12 Samford turnovers while holding the Bulldogs to 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from the floor and 0-of-10 from behind the arc.
36TH ANNUAL LADY EAGLE THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
The 36th Annual Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic featured two teams making their debuts in North Dakota and North Texas. Samford is now 1-2 all-time in the tournament and Southern Miss moves to 60-11 in the event overall and 30-9 under McNelis.
The full All-LETC Team consisted of Gray, Grayson, Cornfield and North Texas' DesiRay Kernal and Tommisha Lampkin. Domonique Davis earned MVP honors.
UP NEXT
Southern Miss enjoys a week off after playing four games in eight days. The next time out for the Lady Eagles will come on Saturday, Dec. 2, against No. 24/23 Ole Miss at Reed Green Coliseum. Tipoff against the Rebels is set for 2 p.m. and the game will mark Southern Miss' annual Lung Cancer Awareness Game.
– #McNelisStrong –
Team Stats
SU
USM
FG%
.259
.359
3FG%
.091
.111
FT%
.750
.667
RB
36
47
TO
20
14
STL
6
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
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