Thursday, January 9
Monroe, La. / Fant-Ewing Coliseum
3 p.m.
Southern Miss
at
ULM
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Women’s Basketball Begins Road Swing at ULM
1/8/2025 3:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss women's basketball opens a two-game road swing through Louisiana with a Thursday, Jan. 9, meeting at ULM. Tipoff between the Warhawks and Lady Eagles is set for 3 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum with broadcasts on ESPN+ and the Southern Miss Sports Network.
The Lady Eagles (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) look to snap a two-game skid in Sun Belt play as they hit the road for the first time in the new year. ULM (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) also looks to rebound after dropping their last contest to Old Dominion in Monroe.
Southern Miss' two-game stretch in Louisiana starts in Monroe and ends in Lafayette, where the Lady Eagles take on Louisiana on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Cajundome. Tipoff for Saturday's game against the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 2 p.m.
Game 15 // Southern Miss (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) at ULM (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt)
Thursday, January 9, 2025 // 3 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ // Sean Fox (PxP) and Mike Vining (Color)
Radio: Southern Miss Sports Network (92.7 FM) // Jason Baker (PxP)
Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,085) // Monroe, La.
About the Warhawks
Second-year head coach Missy Bilderback and her Warhawks enter the week with a 5-9 overall record and sit at 1-2 in Sun Belt play. ULM's lone SBC victory was over Georgia Southern last Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Warhawks fell on the road to Coastal Carolina and at home to Old Dominion.
Bilderback won 21 games in her debut season at ULM, which was selected by the Sun Belt Coaches to finish fourth in league play this season. A total of six Warhawk athletes and four Warhawk coaches hail from Mississippi.
Two Warhawks – Jakayla Johnson and Meloney Thames – average double-figure scoring this season with Johnson leading the group with 14.1 points per game and Thames following with 12.5 points of her own. Johnson, Thames and Sakyia White have started in all 14 games for ULM this season. As a team, ULM ranks highly at protecting its possessions, committing just 13.4 turnovers per game, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 34th in Division I.
The ULM Series
Southern Miss leads the all-time series 18-11 with the series dating back to 1978. The Lady Eagles had a four-game streak in the series snapped by ULM last season, who won all three meetings between the two teams.
In their last meeting, ULM knocked Southern Miss out of the Postseason WNIT in the Super 16 in an 84-71 win in Monroe, extending their streak in the series to three consecutive games.
Southern Miss is 6-9 in games played in Monroe.
Against Louisiana Teams
Southern Miss is 164-94 all-time against Louisiana programs as the Lady Eagles have played all 12 Division I teams in the state. The Lady Eagles' 258 games against Louisiana teams are the most games played against opponents from any state.
Southern Miss is 54-65 on the road in Louisiana and 41-33 in all-time conference play against Bayou State teams. Southern Miss has played four Louisiana teams in conference play: Louisiana (3-1 SBC); Louisiana Tech (11-6 C- USA); Tulane (25-24 overall; 14-4 Metro; 11-20 C-USA); and ULM (2-2 SBC).
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 107-62 all-time against current Sun Belt teams and 40-30 all-time in conference play. Since 2022-23, Southern Miss is 24-15 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 record-setting year beyond the arc. The 2024-25 squad is making an average of 5.64 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' record average was 5.03 in 2007-08 while Southern Miss made its most three-point baskets in 2014-15 with 178 makes.
#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 by the end of the year.
Grayson also has a chance to move up the charts in multiple records. 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.
Her next game started will tie her for ninth in games played (121) and give her sole possession of ninth place in games started (104). She also ranks in the top 10 in rebounds (sixth), blocks (third), field goal percentage (tied-fifth), field goals made (ninth) and double-doubles (ninth).
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.
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.
The Lady Eagles (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) look to snap a two-game skid in Sun Belt play as they hit the road for the first time in the new year. ULM (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) also looks to rebound after dropping their last contest to Old Dominion in Monroe.
Southern Miss' two-game stretch in Louisiana starts in Monroe and ends in Lafayette, where the Lady Eagles take on Louisiana on Saturday, Jan. 11, at the Cajundome. Tipoff for Saturday's game against the Ragin' Cajuns is set for 2 p.m.
Game 15 // Southern Miss (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt) at ULM (5-9, 1-2 Sun Belt)
Thursday, January 9, 2025 // 3 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+ // Sean Fox (PxP) and Mike Vining (Color)
Radio: Southern Miss Sports Network (92.7 FM) // Jason Baker (PxP)
Fant-Ewing Coliseum (7,085) // Monroe, La.
About the Warhawks
Second-year head coach Missy Bilderback and her Warhawks enter the week with a 5-9 overall record and sit at 1-2 in Sun Belt play. ULM's lone SBC victory was over Georgia Southern last Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Warhawks fell on the road to Coastal Carolina and at home to Old Dominion.
Bilderback won 21 games in her debut season at ULM, which was selected by the Sun Belt Coaches to finish fourth in league play this season. A total of six Warhawk athletes and four Warhawk coaches hail from Mississippi.
Two Warhawks – Jakayla Johnson and Meloney Thames – average double-figure scoring this season with Johnson leading the group with 14.1 points per game and Thames following with 12.5 points of her own. Johnson, Thames and Sakyia White have started in all 14 games for ULM this season. As a team, ULM ranks highly at protecting its possessions, committing just 13.4 turnovers per game, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks 34th in Division I.
The ULM Series
Southern Miss leads the all-time series 18-11 with the series dating back to 1978. The Lady Eagles had a four-game streak in the series snapped by ULM last season, who won all three meetings between the two teams.
In their last meeting, ULM knocked Southern Miss out of the Postseason WNIT in the Super 16 in an 84-71 win in Monroe, extending their streak in the series to three consecutive games.
Southern Miss is 6-9 in games played in Monroe.
Against Louisiana Teams
Southern Miss is 164-94 all-time against Louisiana programs as the Lady Eagles have played all 12 Division I teams in the state. The Lady Eagles' 258 games against Louisiana teams are the most games played against opponents from any state.
Southern Miss is 54-65 on the road in Louisiana and 41-33 in all-time conference play against Bayou State teams. Southern Miss has played four Louisiana teams in conference play: Louisiana (3-1 SBC); Louisiana Tech (11-6 C- USA); Tulane (25-24 overall; 14-4 Metro; 11-20 C-USA); and ULM (2-2 SBC).
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 107-62 all-time against current Sun Belt teams and 40-30 all-time in conference play. Since 2022-23, Southern Miss is 24-15 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 record-setting year beyond the arc. The 2024-25 squad is making an average of 5.64 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' record average was 5.03 in 2007-08 while Southern Miss made its most three-point baskets in 2014-15 with 178 makes.
#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 by the end of the year.
Grayson also has a chance to move up the charts in multiple records. 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.
Her next game started will tie her for ninth in games played (121) and give her sole possession of ninth place in games started (104). She also ranks in the top 10 in rebounds (sixth), blocks (third), field goal percentage (tied-fifth), field goals made (ninth) and double-doubles (ninth).
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.
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.
– #McNelisStrong | #SMTTT –
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