University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Saturday, January 24
Reed Green Coliseum
Noon
Southern Miss
vs
Coastal Carolina
Lady Eagles Host Coastal Carolina in Saturday Matinee
1/23/2026 5:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss women's basketball hosts Coastal Carolina (9-11, 2-6 Sun Belt) on Saturday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum. Tipoff between the Lady Eagles (11-8, 4-4 Sun Belt) has been moved up to Noon due to Winter Storm Fern.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with the broadcast beginning at Noon on the ESPN DTC App and at SouthernMiss.com. Lee Roberts (PxP) and Larry Boyd (Color) will anchor the broadcast. Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, will open the Lady Eagle Basketball Courtside Show at 11:30 a.m. live from Reed Green Coliseum before being joined by former Lady Eagle head coach Kay James for play-by-play action.
The Lady Eagles are looking to rebound after dropping three of the last four games, including the last two at Arkansas State and Marshall. Southern Miss fell Thursday night to the visiting Thundering Herd 61-52 after falling behind by 26 points early in the third quarter. Southern Miss was able to pull within five points with two minutes to play but could not close out the comeback effort.
Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) led Southern Miss with 17 points while Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds in her first career start at Reed Green Coliseum. Thames finished as one of three double-figure scorers for the Lady Eagles, joining Jakalya Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) and Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) who added on 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Johnson leads Southern Miss with 14.0 points as one of four active players with a double-figure scoring average. Breland, Thames and Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) round out the group of double-figure starters. Hart is Southern Miss' active leader in rebounding with 4.8 per game after the injury of Sakyia White (Tuscaloosa, Ala.).
Southern Miss meets Coastal Carolina for the fourth time in the series short history with the Lady Eagles leading 2-1. The two teams first met on Feb. 11, 2023, in Hattiesburg with Southern Miss winning 80-68. Coastal Carolina got its first and only win of the series in the next meeting in Conway, S.C., before Southern Miss took the rematch in the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. The Chanticleers and Lady Eagles did not meet last season.
Kristin Williams leads the Chanticleers with 13.8 points per game while Tessa Grady also averages 12.6 points per contest. Two Chants, Tracey Hueston and Kinsea Grimes, are averaging 6.6 rebounds per game while Williams' 59 assists are a team best.
Fourth-year head coach Kevin Pederson holds a 58-57 record in Conway after leading the Chanticleers to their first 20-win season in five years and just the second 20-win season of the century. His Chanticleers replaced 10 lost letterwinners and four starters from last year's 23-win team. Pederson won his 500th career game earlier this year in a 25-year tenure in the state of South Carolina with stops at Anderson and Lander.
Support Southern Miss Women's Basketball
Support Southern Miss women's basketball by purchasing your season tickets today for just $75. Visit smttt.info/WBBTix today to purchase your seats.
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 game will be streamed on ESPN+ with the broadcast beginning at Noon on the ESPN DTC App and at SouthernMiss.com. Lee Roberts (PxP) and Larry Boyd (Color) will anchor the broadcast. Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, will open the Lady Eagle Basketball Courtside Show at 11:30 a.m. live from Reed Green Coliseum before being joined by former Lady Eagle head coach Kay James for play-by-play action.
The Lady Eagles are looking to rebound after dropping three of the last four games, including the last two at Arkansas State and Marshall. Southern Miss fell Thursday night to the visiting Thundering Herd 61-52 after falling behind by 26 points early in the third quarter. Southern Miss was able to pull within five points with two minutes to play but could not close out the comeback effort.
Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) led Southern Miss with 17 points while Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds in her first career start at Reed Green Coliseum. Thames finished as one of three double-figure scorers for the Lady Eagles, joining Jakalya Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) and Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) who added on 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Johnson leads Southern Miss with 14.0 points as one of four active players with a double-figure scoring average. Breland, Thames and Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) round out the group of double-figure starters. Hart is Southern Miss' active leader in rebounding with 4.8 per game after the injury of Sakyia White (Tuscaloosa, Ala.).
Southern Miss meets Coastal Carolina for the fourth time in the series short history with the Lady Eagles leading 2-1. The two teams first met on Feb. 11, 2023, in Hattiesburg with Southern Miss winning 80-68. Coastal Carolina got its first and only win of the series in the next meeting in Conway, S.C., before Southern Miss took the rematch in the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. The Chanticleers and Lady Eagles did not meet last season.
Kristin Williams leads the Chanticleers with 13.8 points per game while Tessa Grady also averages 12.6 points per contest. Two Chants, Tracey Hueston and Kinsea Grimes, are averaging 6.6 rebounds per game while Williams' 59 assists are a team best.
Fourth-year head coach Kevin Pederson holds a 58-57 record in Conway after leading the Chanticleers to their first 20-win season in five years and just the second 20-win season of the century. His Chanticleers replaced 10 lost letterwinners and four starters from last year's 23-win team. Pederson won his 500th career game earlier this year in a 25-year tenure in the state of South Carolina with stops at Anderson and Lander.
Support Southern Miss Women's Basketball
Support Southern Miss women's basketball by purchasing your season tickets today for just $75. Visit smttt.info/WBBTix today to purchase your seats.
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.
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Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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