Lady Eagles Prevail in Defensive Struggle Over Louisiana

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss held on to win a grit-filled defensive struggle against Louisiana at Reed Green Coliseum. The Lady Eagles escaped with a 55-48 win thanks in large part to their 27-of-37 performance at the free throw line. Southern Miss also out-rebounded the Cajuns by 18 boards, including 20 on the offensive glass.

It felt like the two teams had turned the clock back 30, maybe even 40 years early in the game. Neither team scored on their first two possessions and did not come close until Jacorriah Bracey (Drew, Miss.) rose above a crowd of Cajuns for a put-back layup. The Lady Eagles never relinquished that lead, though Louisiana did come close a few times. In total, Southern Miss led for 38:49 of game time and held a 22-16 advantage at the half.

Southern Miss is now 11-9 and catapulted into eighth place in the Sun Belt Conference standings with a 4-6 record. With eight games left to go, the Lady Eagles seem poised to make up some of the ground they lost last month. Louisiana (8-11, 4-6 Sun Belt) stayed within an arm's reach of the lead, keeping the game within two possessions through the third quarter.

Two Asjha Leake (Cibolo, Texas) free throws gave the Lady Eagles their largest lead of the day – a 14-point gap that the Cajuns quickly cut down to five. UL cut the lead down to three at the 7:21 mark of the final quarter but Southern Miss never quit. The two teams played perhaps the nation's longest final minute this season as almost 20 minutes transpired at the Coliseum while only 60 seconds came off the clock.

The Lady Eagles put up 23 free throw shots n the fourth quarter alone, connecting on 16 of them. In total, Southern Miss shot 27-of-37 from the charity stripe, the most shots at the line in almost three years when the team put up 43 shots at ULM.

Southern Miss also dominated the glass, winning the rebound battle 49-31 overall and swiping 20 offensive boards to help make up for a 28 percent mark from the floor. Forty-nine rebounds are the most since bringing 50 in 2021 against Alabama A&M. Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) was a vacuum on the court, bringing down 15 rebounds by herself to almost double her previous career high. Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss.) tacked on another 12 with 15 points for her fifth double-double of the year and 15th of her career. Together, Grayson and Gray combined for 27 of Southern Miss' 49 boards.

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Southern Miss celebrates Senior Day against Troy, who knocked off ULM in Monroe tonight to improve to 12-8 overall and 9-1 in Sun Belt Conference play. Southern Miss fell to the Trojans last week in a neck-and-neck 77-70 loss.

Tipoff from Reed Green Coliseum is set for 2 p.m. The Lady Eagles will also be welcoming back over 30 Lady Eagle Alumnae and holding a special celebration for the 30th anniversary of the 1993-94 Sweet Sixteen team.

– #McNelisStrong | #SMTTT –

Lady Eagles Prevail in Defensive Struggle Over Louisiana

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Team Stats

Melyia Grayson

Domonique Davis

Noelani Cornfield

Brikayla Gray

Players Mentioned

Jacorriah Bracey

Brikayla Gray

Melyia Grayson

Asjha Leake