Friday, March 1
Lafayette, La. / Cajundome
5 p.m.
Southern Miss
17-12,10-8Sun Belt
57
at
58
Louisiana
15-13,10-8Sun Belt
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Southern Miss.
6
12
12
16
11
57
Louisiana
9
11
8
18
12
58
Lady Eagles Fall in Overtime Heartbreaker to Louisiana
3/1/2024 8:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana completed an and-one to score the go-ahead point and collect their first win over Southern Miss in over 40 years. The overtime thriller featured seven second half lead changes and ended with a 58-57 Cajun victory. Southern Miss heads to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament next week as the sixth overall seed and will open play on Wednesday, March 6.
Much like the last meeting between the two, the first half was a defensive struggle in every sense of the term. Louisiana led 20-18 after 20 minutes of play after a buzzer-beater jumper from Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss.) was waved off due to an incorrect game clock.
The Lady Eagles, and namely Domonique Davis (DeRidder, La.) came out of the locker room on fire. Davis hit a driving layup to tie it at 20-all 50 seconds in and gave Southern Miss its first lead of the day at the 8:41 mark in the third. The Lady Eagles' run eventually ran to 8-0 before a Ragin' Cajuns timeout with 7:32 left in the frame.
Southern Miss led for the remainder of the quarter and held a slim 30-28 advantage going into the fourth. The Lady Eagles led by as many as 12 with 6:51 left in regulation before the Cajuns slowly chipped away at the lead. Southern Miss was called for six fouls down the stretch while Louisiana committed just one but did not foul for the next nine minutes.
Louisiana was able to make up most of the distance by way of bonus free throws as the Cajuns hit seven shots at the charity stripe to keep the game tied. Davis, with 47 seconds left to play drilled a jumper to tie it for the Lady Eagles at 46-46. The jumper also moved Davis past Joye Lee-McNelis as the ninth-best scorer in Lady Eagle history.
With 40 minutes not being enough, Southern Miss and Louisiana headed to overtime. The game was Southern Miss' first overtime since their last trip to the Cajundome in the 2022-23 season. UL outscored the Lady Eagle 12-11 in the final five minutes thanks to an inherited bonus from the fourth quarter. A referee's whistle after a Tamiah Robinson jumper gave the Cajuns the ball at the free throw line with 1.5 seconds to play. Robinson sank the free throw and Lady Eagles' chances of winning the game.
However, due to Sun Belt Conference tiebreakers, the loss has no impact on Southern Miss' seed in the conference tournament. After tonight, the Lady Eagles are 17-12 overall and 10-8 in Sun Belt play. The win moves Louisiana to 15-13 overall and 10-8 in the Sun Belt. Earlier today, ULM lost to Texas State to fall to 10-8 in the Sun Belt as well. The Warhawks claim the five-seed as they have the best record against the three tied teams. Southern Miss gest the six seed as they are tied with Louisiana and have a win over Troy to break the final tie.
UP NEXT
The Sun Belt bracket is officially released tonight by the conference. As the six seed, Southern Miss will play the winner of the No. 11 and No. 14 seeds on Wednesday, March 6, at 5 p.m.
Much like the last meeting between the two, the first half was a defensive struggle in every sense of the term. Louisiana led 20-18 after 20 minutes of play after a buzzer-beater jumper from Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss.) was waved off due to an incorrect game clock.
The Lady Eagles, and namely Domonique Davis (DeRidder, La.) came out of the locker room on fire. Davis hit a driving layup to tie it at 20-all 50 seconds in and gave Southern Miss its first lead of the day at the 8:41 mark in the third. The Lady Eagles' run eventually ran to 8-0 before a Ragin' Cajuns timeout with 7:32 left in the frame.
Southern Miss led for the remainder of the quarter and held a slim 30-28 advantage going into the fourth. The Lady Eagles led by as many as 12 with 6:51 left in regulation before the Cajuns slowly chipped away at the lead. Southern Miss was called for six fouls down the stretch while Louisiana committed just one but did not foul for the next nine minutes.
Louisiana was able to make up most of the distance by way of bonus free throws as the Cajuns hit seven shots at the charity stripe to keep the game tied. Davis, with 47 seconds left to play drilled a jumper to tie it for the Lady Eagles at 46-46. The jumper also moved Davis past Joye Lee-McNelis as the ninth-best scorer in Lady Eagle history.
With 40 minutes not being enough, Southern Miss and Louisiana headed to overtime. The game was Southern Miss' first overtime since their last trip to the Cajundome in the 2022-23 season. UL outscored the Lady Eagle 12-11 in the final five minutes thanks to an inherited bonus from the fourth quarter. A referee's whistle after a Tamiah Robinson jumper gave the Cajuns the ball at the free throw line with 1.5 seconds to play. Robinson sank the free throw and Lady Eagles' chances of winning the game.
However, due to Sun Belt Conference tiebreakers, the loss has no impact on Southern Miss' seed in the conference tournament. After tonight, the Lady Eagles are 17-12 overall and 10-8 in Sun Belt play. The win moves Louisiana to 15-13 overall and 10-8 in the Sun Belt. Earlier today, ULM lost to Texas State to fall to 10-8 in the Sun Belt as well. The Warhawks claim the five-seed as they have the best record against the three tied teams. Southern Miss gest the six seed as they are tied with Louisiana and have a win over Troy to break the final tie.
UP NEXT
The Sun Belt bracket is officially released tonight by the conference. As the six seed, Southern Miss will play the winner of the No. 11 and No. 14 seeds on Wednesday, March 6, at 5 p.m.
– #McNelisStrong –
Team Stats
USM
LA
FG%
.440
.358
3FG%
.385
.313
FT%
.571
.714
RB
34
33
TO
18
18
STL
10
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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