Lady Eagles’ Comeback Falls Shorts at Louisiana

Saturday, January 11

Lafayette, La. / Cajundome

2 p.m.

Southern Miss

5-11,1-4Sun Belt

Louisiana

8-6,4-1Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

Louisiana

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Lady Eagles’ Comeback Falls Shorts at Louisiana

1/11/2025 4:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

LAFAYETTE, La. – Southern Miss women's basketball battled back from down 23 points to cut Louisiana's lead to just eight with under four minutes to play. The Ragin' Cajuns, though, were able to hold on to win 77-68 despite four Lady Eagles finishing with double-figure scoring efforts.

The Lady Eagles fall to 5-11 overall and 1-4 in Sun Belt Conference play while the Ragin' Cajuns improve to 8-6 overall and are solidly in second place in the Sun Belt with a 4-1 league record.

Southern Miss won the opening tip and struck deep immediately thanks to a Trinity Rowe (Pikeville, Ky.) three-pointer. Melyia Grayson (Hattiesburg, Miss.) connected on a turnaround bucket from short range to give Southern Miss a 5-0 advantage before the Cajuns scored.

UL battled back to score their first buckets of the day, tying the game 6-6 at 6:49 in the frame. Southern Miss led 10-9 at the first quarter's media break. The Cajuns retook the lead and held it before Nyla Jean tied it 17-all late in the frame. Louisiana's Uniyah Franklin beat the buzzer to give the Cajuns a 19-17 lead heading into the second quarter.

Louisiana did not surrender the lead through the rest of the game, scoring back-to-back buckets to take a 24-17 lead in the quarter. Jean splashed another three to cut the margin to 24-20 before the Cajuns once again scored and forced a Southern Miss timeout with 7:30 left in the half down 28-20.

Jean once again connected from beyond the arc to snap a scoreless streak from the Lady Eagles. Southern Miss used another timeout to stop the bleeding in the midst of another Cajun run down 38-23. UL led by as many as 23 points late the frame thanks to a 22-3 streak spanning over six minutes.

Manley finished an and-one for an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the game to 46-26. After trailing by two entering the second, Southern Miss now trailed Louisiana 48-29 heading to the locker room. UL forced seven Lady Eagle turnovers in the second quarter and 13 in the first half. The Cajuns turned those 13 Southern Miss turnovers into 21 first half points.

Southern Miss, though, was not out of the game yet. The Cajuns scored first out of the locker room scores from Morgan Sieper (Tampa, Fla.), Grayson and Jean rolled off seven unanswered for the Black & Gold.

Louisiana burned a timeout to prevent a turnover as Southern Miss clawed its way back. The Lady Eagles' run eventually ended at 14-0 after a Cajun jumper to make it 52-42 in favor of Louisiana.

Louisiana turned that into a 6-0 run before Sieper struck from deep again. Rowe scored on Southern Miss' last possession of the game to cut the margin to 14 heading into the fourth quarter.

UL ran their lead back to 19 points early in the quarter before Southern Miss slowly fought back to trail by eight points once again with 4:07 left in the game. Neither team scored from the floor over the next three-and-a-half minutes before Jaylyn James gave UL a 75-65 lead with 20 seconds to go.

Grayson hit a three to cut the deficit to nine as time expired to give her 15 points on the day. She finished tied with Manley to lead the team in scoring and came two rebounds shy of a double-double. Jean and Rowe also scored double-figures to place four Lady Eagles over 10 points.

Louisiana notches back-to-back wins over Southern Miss for the first time in program history and now trails Southern Miss 16-5 all-time in the series.

Up Next
Southern Miss returns home to host two games next week beginning on Thursday, Jan. 16, against ULM and finishing against South Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 18.

Celebrating 50 Seasons of Southern Miss Women's Basketball
The 2024-25 season of Southern Miss Lady Eagle Basketball marks a major milestone for the program and for The University of Southern Mississippi as the women's basketball program celebrates its 50th season of competition. Following the adoption of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Southern Miss added women's basketball and women's tennis as official athletic programs beginning in the 1975-76 season. Since then, the Lady Eagles have laid out five decades of excellence on and off the court. To celebrate this golden jubilee, Southern Miss women's basketball will host its 50th Season Celebration and Reunion on Saturday, January 18, against South Alabama at Reed Green Coliseum.

Follow The Lady Eagles
Follow the Lady Eagles on Twitter (@SouthernMissWBB), Instagram (@southernmisswbb) or on Facebook (/SouthernMissWBB) to stay up-to-date on Southern Miss women's basketball. Fans can visit Southern Miss.com or download the Southern Miss GameDay app to see full schedules, releases and more.

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