Southern Miss Overcomes Adversity to Clip Jacksonville State

Thursday, November 13

Jacksonville, Ala. / Pete Mathews Coliseum

6:30 p.m.

Southern Miss

4-0,0-0Sun Belt

Jacksonville State

1-2,0-0CUSA

Southern Miss.

Jacksonville St.

Jakayla Johnson drives to the basket against BMCU

Southern Miss Overcomes Adversity to Clip Jacksonville State

11/13/2025 9:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Jakayla Johnson led Southern Miss with 17 points as the Lady Eagles escaped Pete Mathews Coliseum Thursday night with a 67-61 win over Jacksonville State. Southern Miss forced 24 Jacksonville State turnovers to dig itself out of an eight-point deficit in the second half to stay undefeated and move to 4-0 on the season.

Southern Miss (4-0) took the opening tip and scored on their first possession with Jakayla Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) drilling a three-point basket 14 seconds into the contest. Johnson went on to out-score Jacksonville State (1-2) 7-0 by herself before the Gamecocks got their first points of the game with 7:26 left in the first. Jacksonville State then scored eight of the game's next 12 to tie things at 11 with 3:53 left in the first frame.

JSU took the lead for the first time with 3:20 in the quarter before a Brikayla Gray and-one tied things once again. The Gamecocks got the lead back and did not relinquish it until the third quarter. Southern Miss trailed 18-15 at the first quarter break, largely due to six turnovers in the first 10 minutes alone.

The Gamecocks continued to push their advantage, opening the second quarter with a three-pointer to take a 21-15 lead. Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) kept Southern Miss within striking distance before the Lady Eagles were hit with a scoreless streak from 6:11 until 2:13 left in the quarter.

Southern Miss did not score from the field from 6:11 until 1:44, the final Black & Gold bucket of the first half, but a tenacious defense kept Southern Miss in the game despite the lid on the basket. Southern Miss forced seven Gamecock turnovers in the second quarter, tamping down Jacksonville State's shooting.

At the half, Southern Miss trailed 33-27 after finishing just 8-of-29 from the floor and 2-of-11 from three-point range. Jacksonville State shot 12-of-28 in the first half and hit four of their 13 three-point attempts. Johnson held 11 of Southern Miss' 27 points at the break.

A second chance layup from Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) gave Southern Miss its first points of the second half and sparked a 7-0 Southern Miss run to take the lead with 8:23 in the third. Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) broke through for her first points of the night in the span, but Jacksonville State responded to grab the lead once again. The two teams traded back and forth going into the third quarter media timeout where Southern Miss trailed 41-40.

Hart dropped in a layup to move the margin to 42-41 in favor of Southern Miss and a forced turnover on JSU's next possession gave Hart the ball back to make it 44-41. She later hit both her free throw opportunities to single-handedly give Southern Miss a 6-0 run that gave Southern Miss the lead for good.

The Lady Eagle defense clamped down on Jacksonville State, holding the Gamecocks scoreless in the final three minutes of the third. Southern Miss doubled up the Gamecocks in the frame, 24-12, to lead 51-45 heading into the fourth quarter.

Jacksonville State got a basket, but Southern Miss' pressure forced Jacksonville State to go 1-of-7 from the floor in a 10-minute span on top of seven Gamecock turnovers. Southern Miss got its largest lead of the night with a 10-point lead thanks to Breland's layup to make it 58-48 with 4:53 to go.

Southern Miss and Jacksonville State traded fouls to reach the bonus, but Southern Miss' cushion gave the Lady Eagles just enough room to escape with the victory.

Southern Miss forced 11 Gamecock turnovers in the second half and outscored JSU 40-28 in the final 20 minutes.

Up Next
Southern Miss returns to Reed Green Coliseum to host Southeastern on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. The Lady Eagles will be hosting chapters of the Southern Miss Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life as well as members of the Hattiesburg community in a doubleheader with the men's basketball team.

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