Lady Eagles Primed for WNIT Opener Against UAB

Wednesday, March 20

Reed Green Coliseum

6 p.m.

Southern Miss

UAB

Tickets

Jacorriah Bracey comes away with the ball in the final seconds against Ole Miss

Lady Eagles Primed for WNIT Opener Against UAB

3/19/2024 7:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

#McNelisStrong Media Center

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss women's basketball begins its seventh trip to the WNIT with first round action against old Conference USA rival UAB. Tipoff from Reed Green Coliseum between the Lady Eagles and Blazers is set for 6 p.m. The meeting will be the first between Southern Miss and UAB since March 3, 2022, and will be the 70th overall game between the two programs.

Fans are able to purchase tickets for general admission, chairback or courtside seating at SouthernMissTickets.com. An ESPN+ production of the game will be available as well as radio broadcast on the Southern Miss Sports Network.

Game 32 | Southern Miss (18-13, 10-8 Sun Belt) vs. UAB (18-13, 9-9 American)
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 | 6:02 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ | Lee Roberts (PxP) and Larry Boyd (Color)
Radio: Southern Miss Sports Network (92.7 FM) | Jason Baker (PxP) and Kay James (Color)
Reed Green Coliseum (8,095) | Hattiesburg, Miss.

LAST TIME OUT
Southern Miss fell to James Madison in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament in a 77-49 decision. Domonique Davis (DeRidder, La.) and Nyla Jean (Tampa, Fla.) provided a spark for Southern Miss as each scored 18 points but were unable to will the Lady Eagles to victory.

The loss ejected Southern Miss from the tournament and allowed James Madison to advance to the semifinals. JMU fell in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game to regular season champion Marshall.

ABOUT UAB
The Blazers are led by 11th-year head coach Randy Norton, who holds an overall record of 195-142 in Birmingham. UAB finished 9-9 in its inaugural season of American Athletic Conference play and earned the seventh overall seed to the AAC Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

Mia Moore leads the way for UAB, scoring 15.5 per game, grabbing 8.9 rebounds per game, dishing out 2.8 assists per game and swiping 45 steals—leading the Blazers in all categories. Her 46.6 field goal percentage is also the team's best.

Coach Norton is 9-5 against Southern miss and 4-2 inside Reed Green Coliseum.

THE UAB SERIES
Southern Miss and UAB spent 26 years as conference foes in Conference USA from 1995-96 until Southern Miss' departure after the 2022-23 season. The Lady Eagles lead the overall series 41-28 through 69 matches, making it the most-played series for both programs.

The two first met in 1979 but UAB has taken six of the last seven games and nine of the last 15. In 1995, the two programs helped found the upstart Conference USA with Southern Miss arriving from the Metropolitan Athletic Conference and UAB from the Great Midwest Conference.

Dating back to 1979, Southern Miss is 24-9 against UAB in Reed Green Coliseum but have lost the last four competitions in Hattiesburg.

THE WNIT
The Women's National Invitational Tournament enters its 26th season after resurrecting itself in 1998. This season will mark Southern Miss' seventh appearance in the tournament with the first coming in 1982 as part of the WNIT predecessor, the NWIT (National Women's Invitational Tournament) in Amarillo, Texas.

In six prior appearances, Southern Miss is 7-7 overall and made the Great Eight in 2015. This is Southern Miss' first trip to the WNIT since 2018 and the nine overall game in Reed Green Coliseum as part of the tournament. The Lady Eagles are 6-2 at Reed Green in the WNIT.

– #McNelisStrong –