Southern Miss Opens Missy Bilderback Era with Dominant Win Over NIU

Monday, November 3

Reed Green Coliseum

6 p.m.

Southern Miss

1-0,0-0Sun Belt

Northern Illinois

0-1,0-0MAC

NIU

Southern Miss.

Missy Bilderback on the sideline against NIU

Southern Miss Opens Missy Bilderback Era with Dominant Win Over NIU

11/3/2025 10:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book Postgame Notes Highlights Postgame Presser

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Twelve three-pointers and three double-figure scorers led Southern Miss to a 77-56 victory over NIU Monday night at Reed Green Coliseum in the MAC-SBC Challenge. Meloney Thames led the Lady Eagles with 16 points to collect first-year head coach Missy Bilderback's first win leading her alma mater.

NIU's (0-1) Nevaeh Wingate led all scorers with 17 points on a 7-of-10 night. The Huskies finished 19-of-50 (38.0 percent) from the floor and 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from the arc. Southern Miss (1-0) won the rebound battle 44-33 with 15 offensive rebounds. Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) led a group of double-figure scorers with Sakyia White (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) finishing with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Southern Miss led wire-to-wire after Jakaylah Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) scored the first points of the game 58 seconds in. The Lady Eagles never looked back, running up a 10-point lead over NIU at the end of the first quarter. White scored seven of her 13 points in the first quarter alone as the Lady Eagles finished 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from the floor in the opening frame.

The Huskies found their footing in the second quarter, pulling to within five points of Southern Miss' lead with six minutes left in the half. Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) sparked a 7-0 Southern Miss run that spanned nearly two minutes to put the game back in the Lady Eagles' favor. NIU snapped the run at 32-20 with a free throw, but Timya Thurman (Linden, Ala.) dropped in a layup to give Southern Miss its largest lead of the day.

Thames knocked down her second three-pointer of the quarter to extend the lead to 14 with 2:36 to play. At the halftime break, Southern Miss held a 39-30 advantage with a 44.4 percent (16-of-36) mark on the floor and six three-pointers on a 46.2 percent rate.

Coming out of the half, NIU managed to cut the deficit down to 41-35 with 7:52 left in the third quarter. However, Anaisha Carriere (Gulfport, Miss.) got her first points in the Black & Gold to snap NIU's early momentum. Southern Miss pushed the lead up to 14 with under two to play but shot just 28.6 percent in the frame.

Southern Miss opened up its offense in the fourth quarter, using three-point baskets from Morgan Sieper (Tampa, Fla.) and Thames to run its lead up to 17. The Lady Eagles hit all five of their three-point attempts in the last frame, using their range to run off 23 points in the quarter.

As a team, Southern Miss posted 18 assists to just 10 turnovers. Johnson scored just four points but led both teams with five assists. Four Lady Eagles each blocked a shot and Breland grabbed two steals to lead the team.

Up Next
Southern Miss hosts William Carey on Friday, Nov. 7, for the Lady Eagles' annual Education Day game. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. with broadcasts on ESPN+ and the Southern Miss Sports Network.

Fans can tune in to the Lady Eagle Basketball Pregame Show beginning at 10:30 a.m. on 92.7 FM WFOR in Hattiesburg or on the Southern Miss GameDay App.

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