Southern Miss Falls to Toledo in MAC-SBC Challenge

Saturday, February 7

Toledo, Ohio / John F. Savage Arena

1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET)

Southern Miss

12-12,5-7Sun Belt

Toledo

12-9,6-4MAC

Southern Miss.

Toledo

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Southern Miss Falls to Toledo in MAC-SBC Challenge

2/7/2026 3:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo (12-9, 6-4 MAC) got two 20-point performances from its starters to hold off a late Southern Miss (12-12, 5-7 Sun Belt) rally and defeat the Lady Eagles 76-67 in front of a crowd of 4,296 at John F. Savage Arena.

Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) finished two points shy of her career-high with a season-best 25 points to lead the Lady Eagles. She manned a three-person group of double-figure Lady Eagles with Jakayla Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) and Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) notching 19 and 15 points, respectively.

Toledo led things off with a basket on its first possession of the game, but Johnson responded with her first basket of the afternoon. The Rockets grabbed back the lead and held on to it for the rest of the half, building out an 8-2 lead before Southern Miss' next points, two free throws from Johnson.

The Lady Eagles did not find the net from the floor until the 3:36 mark in the frame, going almost six full minutes without a basket. In the meantime, Toledo built out a 12-4 advantage. Baskets from Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) and Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) gave Southern Miss eight points at the end of the frame.

After taking a 15-8 lead into the second quarter, UT kept up its pace in the second. Hart got things started for Southern Miss, scoring on back-to-back possessions with another pair of Johnson free throws giving Southern Miss six points in the second quarter less than minute in. A three-pointer and jumper from the Rockets kept the margin 20-14 but Southern Miss continued to keep it close.

A Thames jumper with 4:14 left in the half pulled Southern Miss within three points, 24-21, but Toledo jumped back out to a five-point lead on the next possession. Johnson drove Southern Miss to within one point of the lead with 1:32 to go in the half. Toledo responded with a 6-0 run to take a 33-26 lead into the halftime locker room.

The Rockets came into the second half still in a groove and pushed the margin to 15 points, the largest of the day, with 5:06 left in the third. Southern Miss forced back-to-back turnovers and got transition baskets from Ramiah "Moonie" Augurson (Monroe, La.) and Johnson to cut the margin down to six points and force a Toledo timeout.

Southern Miss entered the fourth quarter down 51-45 and faced another quick Toledo run. The Rockets splashed back-to-back threes to open the final frame, pushing the lead from six to 12 in less than a minute. Southern Miss mounted a Thames-led run of its own, dragging the margin down to four points over the next two minutes. Thames scored six of Southern Miss' points in the 8-0 run before the Rockets again moved back into a nine-point lead with 5:49 to play.

Johnson drilled a three of of the media timeout and picked off the ensuing inbound pass to score her 17th point of the night and again cut the game to two points. The Rockets, though, were not out and responded with another 7-0 run.

Toledo held on to its lead and hit its free throws down the stretch to fend off the Lady Eagle rally. Thames scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and 18 overall in the second half to lead the Lady Eagles' efforts. The Rockets were able to shoot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the frame) to escape with their 12th win of the season.

Southern Miss finished the game 1-of-11 from three-point range while Toledo hit 6-of-19 shots beyond the arc. The Rockets also won the rebounding battle 45-35.

Up Next
Southern Miss returns home for two games beginning on Thursday, Feb. 12, against ULM. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. at Reed Green Coliseum.

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