University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, January 30
Reed Green Coliseum
6 p.m.
Southern Miss
vs
Texas State
Southern Miss Begins Four-Game Home Stand Against Texas State
1/29/2025 5:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss women's basketball returns to Reed Green Coliseum for the first of four consecutive games in Hattiesburg spread over the next two weeks. The Lady Eagles' stretch of home games begins tomorrow, Jan. 30, against Texas State with tipoff slated for 6 p.m.
Southern Miss (7-13, 3-6 Sun Belt) is looking for its first back-to-back Sun Belt Conference wins of the season after coming out on top in a defensive struggle at Marshall on Sunday. Texas State (9-10, 3-6 Sun Belt) finished winless last week at home but looks to improve on its 6-2 record away from home. Only league-leading James Madison holds a better winning percentage than the Bobcats this season in the Sun Belt.
Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, opens pregame coverage of the game at 5:30 p.m. on the Southern Miss Sports Network with the Lady Eagle Courtside Show. Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd will anchor a stream on ESPN+ with coverage beginning in-app at 6 p.m.
Game 21 // Southern Miss (7-13, 3-6 Sun Belt) vs. Texas State (9-10, 3-6 Sun Belt)
Thursday, January 30, 2025
TV: ESPN+ // Lee Roberts (PxP) & Larry Boyd (Color)
Radio: Southern Miss Sports Network (92.7 FM) // Jason Baker (PxP) & Kay James (Color)
Reed Green Coliseum (8,095) // Hattiesburg, Miss.
About the Bobcats
Texas State was selected to finish 10th in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll and enters the game with a 9-10 overall record and a 3-6 showing in Sun Belt play. Last week was a tough one for the Bobcats, who were beaten 105-85 by Troy and 74-66 by ULM on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Jaylin Foster is the only Bobcat to average double-figures this season with 10.7 per game in 18 games. She leads the team in every statistical category with 6.7 rebounds per game and 28 assists, 33 steals and eight blocks.
The Bobcats' newest signee is Lizzie: a San Marcos, Texas, native and member of Team IMPACT. Lizzie was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in October 2022, and she is currently in the maintenance stage of treatment, taking daily chemo medications to help keep the leukemia in remission. Team IMPACT has helped countless children like Lizzie across the country by matching children facing serious illness and disability with college athletic teams.
The Texas State Series
One of Southern Miss' youngest series, the two teams first met as members of the Sun Belt Conference in the 2022-23 season. Texas State took the first three meetings of the series after sweeping the regular season and knocking Southern Miss out of the 2023 Sun Belt Tournament.
Southern Miss won both meetings between the two teams last season and has a chance to tie the series.
Of note, Southern Miss' first game against Texas State was decided in overtime, making it the fifth time in program history that the first meeting in a series involving Southern Miss was decided in overtime and first time since 2000.
Against Texas Teams
Southern Miss is 73-78 all-time against Texas-based programs and has played 19 total teams from Texas and eight in conference play.
Southern Miss will play at least four games against Texas programs this season after falling to Baylor (Nov. 23) and Texas A&M (Nov. 25) in the Battle4Atlantis early this season in addition to its two games against Texas State in Sun Belt play.
Southern Miss is 45-27 at Reed Green Coliseum when facing competition from Texas.
Buckling the Sun Belt
Southern Miss is in its third season of Sun Belt Conference play after joining in 2022-23. With Southern Miss' addition to the league, the Sun Belt now spans 10 contiguous states from West Virginia to Texas. Six members of the league are within 400 miles of Hattiesburg with four less than a 300-mile drive away.
The Lady Eagles are 109-66 all-time against current Sun Belt teams and 42-34 all-time in conference play. Since 2022-23, Southern Miss is 26-19 in Sun Belt Conference games.
Joye Lee-McNelis is the league's longest tenured head coach and is the winningest active head coach in as well.
Leading Her Alma Mater
Joye Lee-McNelis is one of 40 active Division I head coaches currently leading their alma mater in women's basketball. She is one of 26 former women's basketball players currently leading the team she played for as well.
Three's Company
Southern Miss is on pace for a one of the program's best years behind the arc. The 2024-25 squad is making an average of 5.65 three-point baskets per game, making them just the second team in the program's history to average more than five three-pointers per game.
Southern Miss' current record average was 5.03 in 2007-08 while Southern Miss made its most three-point baskets in 2014-15 with 178 makes.
As another sign of the Lady Eagles' growth beyond the arc, the Lady Eagles made 10 three-point baskets for the second time this season against South Alabama. Southern Miss first hit the mark at Georgia State earlier this season. The 2024-25 season is the fifth in school history where the Lady Eagles made 10 three-point baskets in two consecutive games and the first since 2007-08.
#BurgBuilt
Fifth-year center Melyia Grayson is one of 45 players in Division I playing her fifth season at the one school. She entered the year already on the 1,000-point club's roster and has a chance to move into the top 10 this season.
She enters tomorrow's game with 1,495 points and sits at 11th on the all-time scoring charts. She needs just 17 points to tie No. 10, currently held by Joye Lee-McNelis, who scored 1,512 points from 1980-84.
Grayson also has a chance to move up the charts in multiple categoris. Against App State, Grayson played her 120th career game at Southern Miss and started her 103rd, moving her into the top 10 in both categories.
She is now tied for third in games played (126) and ninth in starts (109). She also ranks top 10 in rebounds (fifth), blocks (third), field goal percentage (seventh), field goals made (eighth) and double-doubles (ninth)
30 Piece
Grayson tied her career high of 32 points at ULM on Jan. 9, collecting 14 rebounds en route to her 24th career double-double and third this season.
The game also moved her from 14th on the all-time scoring charts to 13th, passing Tanya Bullock (1990-94). She is just eight points away from tying Wilhelmina Smith (1981-85) for 12th all-time.
The Tampa Two
Former high school teammates Nyla Jean and Morgan Sieper reunited at the Division I level last season in Hattiesburg with Jean transferring from Georgia State and Sieper signing out of H.B. Plant High School in Tampa, Fla.
The two won the 2021 FHSAA Class 7A State Title with the Plant Panthers where Jean was a senior and Sieper a sophomore. The two started together for the first time in their careers together on Dec. 21, 2023, at Florida Gulf Coast and last season's run in the Postseason WNIT was the first postseason action for the two since their 2021 state title run in Tampa.
The duo has scored in double-figures together in three games this season.
New Year, Newcomers
The 2024-25 season saw Southern Miss sign eight newcomers to their squad. Je'Mya Evans (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) and Samantha Shanks (Connors State) both signed from NJCAA while Bre Sutton transferred from Arkansas State after spending her first two seasons at ULM.
Five freshman – Micah Cooper, Jaime Gallatly, Whitney Hart, Trinity Rowe and Ava Shields – all inked their letters of intent with Southern Miss as well.
Welcome Back Bre
Bre Sutton made her return to the floor on Sunday, Jan. 26, at Marshall. The senior guard from New Orleans, La., left the Jan. 2 game against Old Dominion with an injury after just 3:50 on the court. Sutton had started in all 13 games for the Lady Eagles up to that point but missed the next six.
She played 10:41 off the bench at Marshall and, though she did not find the net, collected two rebounds in return to play.
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 hosted 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.
Southern Miss (7-13, 3-6 Sun Belt) is looking for its first back-to-back Sun Belt Conference wins of the season after coming out on top in a defensive struggle at Marshall on Sunday. Texas State (9-10, 3-6 Sun Belt) finished winless last week at home but looks to improve on its 6-2 record away from home. Only league-leading James Madison holds a better winning percentage than the Bobcats this season in the Sun Belt.
Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, opens pregame coverage of the game at 5:30 p.m. on the Southern Miss Sports Network with the Lady Eagle Courtside Show. Lee Roberts and Larry Boyd will anchor a stream on ESPN+ with coverage beginning in-app at 6 p.m.
Game 21 // Southern Miss (7-13, 3-6 Sun Belt) vs. Texas State (9-10, 3-6 Sun Belt)
Thursday, January 30, 2025
TV: ESPN+ // Lee Roberts (PxP) & Larry Boyd (Color)
Radio: Southern Miss Sports Network (92.7 FM) // Jason Baker (PxP) & Kay James (Color)
Reed Green Coliseum (8,095) // Hattiesburg, Miss.
About the Bobcats
Texas State was selected to finish 10th in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll and enters the game with a 9-10 overall record and a 3-6 showing in Sun Belt play. Last week was a tough one for the Bobcats, who were beaten 105-85 by Troy and 74-66 by ULM on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
Jaylin Foster is the only Bobcat to average double-figures this season with 10.7 per game in 18 games. She leads the team in every statistical category with 6.7 rebounds per game and 28 assists, 33 steals and eight blocks.
The Bobcats' newest signee is Lizzie: a San Marcos, Texas, native and member of Team IMPACT. Lizzie was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in October 2022, and she is currently in the maintenance stage of treatment, taking daily chemo medications to help keep the leukemia in remission. Team IMPACT has helped countless children like Lizzie across the country by matching children facing serious illness and disability with college athletic teams.
The Texas State Series
One of Southern Miss' youngest series, the two teams first met as members of the Sun Belt Conference in the 2022-23 season. Texas State took the first three meetings of the series after sweeping the regular season and knocking Southern Miss out of the 2023 Sun Belt Tournament.
Southern Miss won both meetings between the two teams last season and has a chance to tie the series.
Of note, Southern Miss' first game against Texas State was decided in overtime, making it the fifth time in program history that the first meeting in a series involving Southern Miss was decided in overtime and first time since 2000.
Against Texas Teams
Southern Miss is 73-78 all-time against Texas-based programs and has played 19 total teams from Texas and eight in conference play.
Southern Miss will play at least four games against Texas programs this season after falling to Baylor (Nov. 23) and Texas A&M (Nov. 25) in the Battle4Atlantis early this season in addition to its two games against Texas State in Sun Belt play.
Southern Miss is 45-27 at Reed Green Coliseum when facing competition from Texas.
Buckling the Sun Belt
Southern Miss is in its third season of Sun Belt Conference play after joining in 2022-23. With Southern Miss' addition to the league, the Sun Belt now spans 10 contiguous states from West Virginia to Texas. Six members of the league are within 400 miles of Hattiesburg with four less than a 300-mile drive away.
The Lady Eagles are 109-66 all-time against current Sun Belt teams and 42-34 all-time in conference play. Since 2022-23, Southern Miss is 26-19 in Sun Belt Conference games.
Joye Lee-McNelis is the league's longest tenured head coach and is the winningest active head coach in as well.
Leading Her Alma Mater
Joye Lee-McNelis is one of 40 active Division I head coaches currently leading their alma mater in women's basketball. She is one of 26 former women's basketball players currently leading the team she played for as well.
Three's Company
Southern Miss is on pace for a one of the program's best years behind the arc. The 2024-25 squad is making an average of 5.65 three-point baskets per game, making them just the second team in the program's history to average more than five three-pointers per game.
Southern Miss' current record average was 5.03 in 2007-08 while Southern Miss made its most three-point baskets in 2014-15 with 178 makes.
As another sign of the Lady Eagles' growth beyond the arc, the Lady Eagles made 10 three-point baskets for the second time this season against South Alabama. Southern Miss first hit the mark at Georgia State earlier this season. The 2024-25 season is the fifth in school history where the Lady Eagles made 10 three-point baskets in two consecutive games and the first since 2007-08.
#BurgBuilt
Fifth-year center Melyia Grayson is one of 45 players in Division I playing her fifth season at the one school. She entered the year already on the 1,000-point club's roster and has a chance to move into the top 10 this season.
She enters tomorrow's game with 1,495 points and sits at 11th on the all-time scoring charts. She needs just 17 points to tie No. 10, currently held by Joye Lee-McNelis, who scored 1,512 points from 1980-84.
Grayson also has a chance to move up the charts in multiple categoris. Against App State, Grayson played her 120th career game at Southern Miss and started her 103rd, moving her into the top 10 in both categories.
She is now tied for third in games played (126) and ninth in starts (109). She also ranks top 10 in rebounds (fifth), blocks (third), field goal percentage (seventh), field goals made (eighth) and double-doubles (ninth)
30 Piece
Grayson tied her career high of 32 points at ULM on Jan. 9, collecting 14 rebounds en route to her 24th career double-double and third this season.
The game also moved her from 14th on the all-time scoring charts to 13th, passing Tanya Bullock (1990-94). She is just eight points away from tying Wilhelmina Smith (1981-85) for 12th all-time.
The Tampa Two
Former high school teammates Nyla Jean and Morgan Sieper reunited at the Division I level last season in Hattiesburg with Jean transferring from Georgia State and Sieper signing out of H.B. Plant High School in Tampa, Fla.
The two won the 2021 FHSAA Class 7A State Title with the Plant Panthers where Jean was a senior and Sieper a sophomore. The two started together for the first time in their careers together on Dec. 21, 2023, at Florida Gulf Coast and last season's run in the Postseason WNIT was the first postseason action for the two since their 2021 state title run in Tampa.
The duo has scored in double-figures together in three games this season.
New Year, Newcomers
The 2024-25 season saw Southern Miss sign eight newcomers to their squad. Je'Mya Evans (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC) and Samantha Shanks (Connors State) both signed from NJCAA while Bre Sutton transferred from Arkansas State after spending her first two seasons at ULM.
Five freshman – Micah Cooper, Jaime Gallatly, Whitney Hart, Trinity Rowe and Ava Shields – all inked their letters of intent with Southern Miss as well.
Welcome Back Bre
Bre Sutton made her return to the floor on Sunday, Jan. 26, at Marshall. The senior guard from New Orleans, La., left the Jan. 2 game against Old Dominion with an injury after just 3:50 on the court. Sutton had started in all 13 games for the Lady Eagles up to that point but missed the next six.
She played 10:41 off the bench at Marshall and, though she did not find the net, collected two rebounds in return to play.
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 hosted 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.
– #McNelisStrong | #SMTTT –
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