Johnson Leads Southern Miss to Victory Over ULM in Regular Season Finale

Friday, February 27

Monroe, La. / Fant-Ewing Coliseum

6:30 p.m.

Southern Miss

15-15,8-10Sun Belt

ULM

13-15,7-11Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

ULM

JK Johnson drives from the wing against South Alabama

Johnson Leads Southern Miss to Victory Over ULM in Regular Season Finale

2/27/2026 9:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

MONROE, La. – Southern Miss women's basketball (15-15, 8-10 Sun Belt) weathered a late ULM (13-15, 7-11 Sun Belt) comeback attempt and escaped Fant-Ewing Coliseum with a 68-61 victory in the final game of the 2025-26 regular season. Jakayla Johnson scored a season-high 32 points to lead all scorers and hold off the Warhawks and give Southern Miss the seventh-overall seed in next week's conference tournament.

Johnson's 32 points marked the third time reaching 30 points as a Lady Eagle while Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) joined her in double-figures with 13 points. J'Mani Ingram led ULM with 19 points as one of three Warhawks in double-figures while Marcavia Shavers recorded the game's only double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Southern Miss took the opening tip and converted it for Johnson's (Clinton, Miss.) first points of the night. The Lady Eagles held ULM scoreless until two minutes in when the Warhawks tied the game 2-2 at the free throw line. Monroe did not make its first basket until the 7:23 mark of the first quarter to tie the game once again, 4-4.

Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) gave Southern Miss a 6-4 lead with a layup at 7:13. The Lady Eagles held on the advantage for the rest of the quarter and deep into the second thanks to a 4-0 run that netted Southern Miss its largest lead of the game thus far, 12-6, at the media timeout.

ULM closed the gap but was never able to tie the game and Southern Miss took a 14-12 lead into the second quarter. Southern Miss, though, did not make a basket for the final 4:42 of the first half, finally breaking through again on a Johnson basket a minute into the third quarter. ULM makes it a one-point game with 8:14 to play in quarter but was unable to tie.

Southern Miss moved its lead back to three points at the free throw line and led 22-19 at the media break, though a pair of Johnson free throws made it a five-point margin the next time the clock ran at Fant-Ewing.

ULM tied the game with 1:57 to play in the first half and took the lead on the ensuing possession, 26-24, capping off a 7-0 run. Thames tied the game 26-26 at the free throw line with 18,9 second to play and the score remained there going into halftime.

Johnson led all scorers at the half with 14 points, accounting for over half of the Lady Eagles' 26 points. ULM made two more field goals than Southern Miss in the first half but Southern Miss' 10 free throws closed the gap.

Johnson grabbed the lead on Southern Miss' first possession of the second half before ULM tied the game once again on the following Warhawk shot. Breland hit a jumper on Southern Miss' next possession to give Southern Miss the lead for the rest of the game.

The Lady Eagles turned on a 6-0 run to lead 34-28 and later used another 9-0 run to lead 49-34 with 2:47 left in the third quarter. Southern Miss took a 54-40 lead into the fourth quarter and pushed the margin to as many as 19 points with seven and half minutes to go thanks to two free throws from Johnson, giving her 27 points.

Johnson got her 29th point of the night with a basket with 5:40 to play in what became Southern Miss' final field goal of the game. Over the last 5:40, ULM turned up the heat and mounted an 11-0 run that quickly snowballed into a 15-1 run since Southern Miss' last basket, making it a 65-61 game with just over a minute to play.

Southern Miss' only points in the interim came from three Johnson free throws, giving her a season-high 32 with 15.8 seconds to play. ULM had the ball down four but Southern Miss was able to force a turnover on the shot clock to regain possession and get Johnson to the line.

After Johnson's free throws, Southern Miss led 67-61 and got the ball back thanks to a ULM offensive foul. Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) finished off the back end of two free throws to set the game at its final margin, 68-61.

ULM out-scored Southern Miss 21-14 in the fourth quarter but Southern Miss still won the second half 42-35 thanks to a 16-of-33 (48.5 percent) performance on the floor to Monroe's 14-of-42 (33.3 percent). However, Southern Miss shot 60 percent (12-of-20) in the third quarter before posting a 4-of-13 mark in the fourth with eight turnovers.

Up Next
Southern Miss heads to Pensacola, Fla., as the seventh overall seed in the 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve. Action for the Lady Eagles begins on Thursday, March 5, at 2 p.m. in the third round of the tourney while the overall event begins with two games on Tuesday, March 3.

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