Women’s Basketball Set for 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championships presented by Air Force Reserve

Thursday, March 5

Pensacola, Fla. / Pensacola Bay Center

2 p.m.

Southern Miss

(10) ULM

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Women’s Basketball Set for 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Conference Women’s Basketball Championships presented by Air Force Reserve

3/4/2026 6:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. – Southern Miss (15-15, 8-10 Sun Belt) opens play in the third round of the 2026 Sun Belt Tournament as the seventh-overall seed against tenth-seeded ULM (14-15, 7-11 Sun Belt). The third game of the season between the Lady Eagles and Warhawks is set for 2 p.m. at the Pensacola Bay Center with broadcasts on the Southern Miss Sports Network and ESPN+.

Jason Baker and Kay James open the Lady Eagle Courtside Show at 1:30 p.m. on the Southern Miss Sports Network while Brooke Kirchhofer and Garrett Walvoord will anchor the remote broadcast on ESPN+.

Jakayla Johnson (Clinton, Miss.), fresh off receiving All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team honors, leads the Lady Eagles into the tournament with a team-best 15.3 points per game. Johnson owns All-Sun Belt selections in all three of her seasons in the Sun Belt Conference.

Missy Bilderback looks to become the second first-year head coach to win a conference tournament game with Rick Reeves finishing 1-1 in the 1999 C-USA Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals. Southern Miss is 43-44 all-time in conference tournaments and 2-3 in Sun Belt Conference Tournaments since joining the league in 2022-23.

Including Johnson, four active Lady Eagles are averaging double-figures on the year. Johnson leads the group but Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.), Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) and Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) round out the group of four with 13.2, 11.8 and 10.2 points per game.

Six Lady Eagles have taken the floor in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament before with Johnson, Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) and Morgan Sieper (Tampa, Fla.) all playing three games. Je'Mya Evans (Gulfport, Miss.) and Sakyia White have each played one game in Pensacola before.

Entering the game as the seventh overall seed, Southern Miss gets a double-bye to the third round and will need to win five-straight games to claim the 2026 tournament crown. The game will be Southern Miss' first-ever in a third round game of a tournament. A win over (10) ULM sees Southern Miss advance to the fourth round to play (6) Old Dominion for the second time this season.

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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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