Southern Miss Rolls to 76-62 Victory Over Texas State

Wednesday, January 14

San Marcos, Texas / Strahan Arena at the University Events Center

11 a.m.

Southern Miss

11-6,4-2Sun Belt

Texas State

7-9,3-3Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

Texas St.

Carly Keats from three against South Alabama

Southern Miss Rolls to 76-62 Victory Over Texas State

1/14/2026 1:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Southern Miss women's basketball improved to 11-6 on the year and 4-2 in Sun Belt play with a dominant 76-62 win at Texas State (7-9, 3-3 Sun Belt) in front of 2,858 elementary students on Wednesday afternoon at Strahan Arena. Three Lady Eagles scored in double-figures with Jakayla Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) leading all scorers with 19 points.

Southern Miss led wire-to-wire thanks to a three-pointer from Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) just over a minute into the game. Keats' trey was the first of five on the day as she finished with 17 points on a 6-of-11 shooting line.

Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) moved the game to 5-0 with a pair of free throws on the next possession. The Bobcats got their first points of the day at the 7:41 mark in the quarter, but an and-one from Breland and three by Keats soon opened the game up to an 11-4 margin at the first media break.

Southern Miss took a 21-12 lead into the second quarter after scoring three points in under two seconds. Breland made one free throw with 1.9 left before Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) picked up the miss and got fouled with 0.1 seconds left in the frame. Her free throw gave Southern Miss its best first quarter since Jan. 1 when the Lady Eagles scored 24 against Arkansas State.

Texas State got the first points of the second quarter to pull the game back within seven points but Keats and Breland again teamed up to run up the difference. Keats hit a three to make it a 10-point game before Breland again took a trip to the line, setting the score at 26-14.

On the ensuing inbound, Breland broke away on a steal and score to run the margin up to 28-14 in favor of Southern Miss less than two minutes into the quarter. Texas State used a timeout and did score four unanswered out of the pause before Timaya Thurman (Linden, Ala.) gave Southern Miss its 29th and 30th points of the day from the paint.

Thurman's layup marked the start of a near five-and-a-half minute scoreless streak by the Lady Eagles. Southern Miss did not score again until Johnson found the basket with 1:08 left in the half. In the meantime, Southern Miss went 0-of-10 from the floor in the five minutes between baskets. In what turned into a quick quarter, the Lady Eagles were able to hold Texas State scoreless as well.

The Bobcats did not make a field goal for over six minutes, going 0-of-8 in the span, with just one free throw in the mix to prevent a six-plus minute scoreless streak. Johnson finished off a trip to the free throw line with two makes to set the margin at 34-23 at halftime.

Southern Miss forced 11 Bobcat turnovers in the first half and held a 34-21 margin in the rebounding battle. The Lady Eagles shot just 28.6 percent (10-of-35) from the floor but made up the difference with an 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) performance at the charity stripe.

Southern Miss forced a Texas State miss on the first possession of the second half, giving Breland a chance to connect on a basket to give her 12 points on the day. The Wiggins native finished with 15 points on the night with eight rebounds.

Keats found nylon again for another three before Texas State mounted a 6-0 run to force a Southern Miss timeout and cut the game to 39-30. Out of the timeout, Keats again made a three to build out another double-digit lead. Breland score her final points of the day with 2:10 left in the frame to make the game 47-36.

Johnson, who held just four points and one field goal at halftime, began to warm up. She hit a three with 1:08 left and finished off the quarter scoring six of Southern Miss' final eight points, including a free throw with eight seconds left to give Southern Miss its largest lead of the day heading into the fourth, 55-40.

Southern Miss held serve with the Bobcats in the fourth quarter, reaching its largest margin of the day with 3:04 to play with a bucket from Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.). Texas State closed out the game to pull back within 15 and eventually 14 points for the final margin of the game.

Texas State was led in scoring by Kyra Anderson's 16 points, who finished as one of two double-figure scorers alongside Taleiyah Gibbs' 15 points. Southern Miss out-rebounded Texas State 47-34 overall and pulled in 19 offensive rebounds – the Lady Eagles' best marks in both categories since grabbing 25 offensive boards against Nicholls and grabbing 47 overall boards against Arkansas State.

Redshirt freshman center Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) made her first career start, finishing with four points and seven rebounds. Johnson also led Southern Miss with 9 rebounds, just one short of a double-double. Keats dished out three assists while Southern Miss used 15 Texas State turnovers to score 14 points.

Up Next
Southern Miss heads to Jonesboro, Ark., after a brief trip back to Hattiesburg to take on Arkansas State for the second time this season. The Red Wolves took the first meeting of the year 91-83 at Reed Green Coliseum.

Tipoff at First National Bank Arena is set for 2 p.m. with broadcasts on ESPN+ and the Southern Miss Sports Network.

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