Lady Eagles Open Four-Game Road Swing at Louisiana

Wednesday, February 18

Lafayette, La. / Cajundome

6 p.m.

Southern Miss

Louisiana

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Lady Eagles Open Four-Game Road Swing at Louisiana

2/17/2026 7:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss women's basketball (13-13, 6-8 Sun Belt) heads to Lafayette, La., to take on long-time rival Louisiana (4-22, 2-13 Sun Belt) in Sun Belt Conference action on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Tipoff between the Lady Eagles and Ragin' Cajuns is set for 6 p.m. at the Cajundome with airing on ESPN+ and the Southern Miss Sports Network.

Jason Baker, the Voice of the Lady Eagles, opens the Lady Eagle Courtside Show at 5:30 p.m. on 92.7 FM (Hattiesburg) and on the Southern Miss Game Day App.

The Lady Eagles are fresh off a much-needed win over Sun Belt foe Texas State, taking an 86-77 victory over the Bobcats to snap a three-game skid of tough games. The win also vaulted Southern Miss up four spots in the Sun Belt Conference standings, now just half a game back from sixth-place Texas State.

Jakayla Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) led Southern Miss with 27 points with fellow Mississippians Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) and Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) adding on 20 and 14, respectively. Southern Miss forced 21 Texas State turnovers on the night for a plus-11 turnover margin to counteract the Bobcats' 50.8 percent (31-of-61) night on the floor.

The win also capped off the home season at Reed Green Coliseum as the Lady Eagles finish the regular season with four-straight road games before heading to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla.

Johnson leads Southern Miss with 15.0 points per game as one of four active Lady Eagles in double-figure averages. Thames, Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) and Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) round out the group with 12.9, 12.3 and 10.7 points per game. Johnson also ranks second in Sun Belt Conference scoring with 19.2 points per game across 14 contests.

Louisiana returns home after playing five of its last six games away from the Cajundome. The Ragin' Cajuns most recently took a 57-54 win in Mobile, Ala., over South Alabama to snap a five-game skid in the Sun Belt play. Fourteenth-year head coach Garry Brodhead owns a 215-181 record leading his alma mater and holds a 2-6 overall record against Southern Miss as a head coach.

Former Lady Eagle Mikaylah Manley leads the Cajuns with 12.8 points per game in 26 contests. Fellow starter Imani Daniel and reserve guard Amijah Price both hold double-figures as well with 11.7 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Daniel leads the team with 5.7 rebounds per game while Bianca Silva's 77 assists and 48 steals are both team-highs.

As a team, the Cajuns are last in the Sun Belt with 57.3 points per game but holds a better scoring defense than Southern Miss with an average of 73.3 points per game compared to Southern Miss 74.2 points allowed.

Southern Miss leads the all-time series 18-5 after first meeting the Cajuns in 1976. The Lady Eagles are 3-2 in the Cajundome all-time and 4-4 when playing in Lafayette. Louisiana has taken the last two meetings in Lafayette over Southern Miss with the Lady Eagles last win in the Cajundome coming on Feb. 24, 2023, to seal Southern Miss' share of the regular season title.

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