Women’s Basketball Falls at South Alabama

Wednesday, February 25

Mobile, Ala. / Mitchell Center

5 p.m.

Southern Miss

14-15,7-10Sun Belt

South Alabama

11-17,4-13Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

South Alabama

Women’s Basketball Falls at South Alabama

2/25/2026 7:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

MOBILE, Ala. – Southern Miss (14-15, 7-10 Sun Belt) fell 57-43 to South Alabama (11-17, 4-13 Sun Belt) on Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center. Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) led the Lady Eagles with 13 points, but South Alabama's defensive effort held Southern Miss to a 20.8 percent (15-of-72) mark on the floor.

The Lady Eagles forced 19 Jaguar turnovers with South Alabama's Chrysta Narcissa leading all scorers as one of three Jaguars in double-figures. South won the rebounding battle 53-37 and finished 22-of-55 (40.0 percent) from the floor to escape the defensive battle win the win.

South Alabama took the game's opening possession which proved to be short-lived as the Lady Eagles forced a turnover to take over. South stopped the Lady Eagles' first attempt and took the first points of the game on the ensuing possession. The Jaguars led from then on, never surrendering the lead or allowing a tie for the next 39:05.

Southern Miss called a timeout just under four minutes into the opening quarter after the Jaguars took an 8-0 lead. Breland sank a basket on the first possession after the break to snap a 0-of-5 start to the game from the floor for the Lady Eagles. Southern Miss outscored South Alabama 10-4 in the final half of the first quarter but was not able to come closer than two points, trailing 12-10 at the end of the frame.

Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) got Southern Miss on the board in the second quarter to bring the margin to 15-12 in favor of the Jaguars, but points proved hard to come by for the Lady Eagles in the frame. Thames hit another basket two minutes later to make it a 17-14 line before the Jaguars locked down the Lady Eagle offense.

Southern Miss did not score over the next five minutes, giving South Alabama a 13-0 run to take a 30-14 lead before Morgan Sieper (Tampa, Fla.) drilled a three to cut the run. South then scored the final four points of the quarter to take the second frame 22-7 and lead 34-17 at the half.

The Lady Eagles were just 6-of-31 (19.4 percent) in the first half and 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from three in the first 20 minutes of the game. South Alabama, in contrast, shot 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) and made 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) of its attempts from the arc. The Jaguars also doubled up the Lady Eagles on the glass in the first half, 27-13.

Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) scored Southern Miss' first five points of the second half, but Southern Miss trails the Jaguars 40-22 with 6:33 left to play in the quarter. South took its largest lead of the day, a 21-point lead, with five minutes to go in the third quarter before Southern Miss cut into the margin.

Southern Miss held the Jaguars scoreless for over four minutes and got the lead down to 15 in less than two minutes after USA's 21-point margin. The Lady Eagles trailed 48-30 going into the final quarter and quickly swung momentum to Southern Miss by forcing a turnover on South Alabama's first possession.

Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) finished off a basket off the hands of Breland to give Southern Miss its first points of the fourth quarter and start what became a 9-0 run for Southern Miss. The Lady Eagles got a basket from Jakayla Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) with 5:12 left in regulation to make it an 11-point game.

The Jaguars cut the run and got a six-point lead of their own to keep control of the game. Southern Miss was unable to pull back within range of the lead before falling by the final 57-43 margin.

Breland scored eight of her team-best 13 points in the fourth quarter alone in Southern Miss' only quarter outscoring South Alabama, 13-9. Southern Miss committed just seven turnovers in the game and scored 10 points off Jaguar giveaways.

Up Next
Southern Miss closes out the 2025-26 regular season with a trip to Monroe, La., to take on ULM on Friday, Feb. 27. Tipoff from Fant-Ewing Coliseum is set for 6:30 p.m. with broadcasts on ESPN+ and the Southern Miss Sports Network.

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