Women’s Basketball Falls to ULM in Sun Belt Conference Tournament

Thursday, March 5

Pensacola, Fla. / Pensacola Bay Center

2 p.m.

Southern Miss

15-16,8-10Sun Belt

(10) ULM

16-15,7-11Sun Belt

ULM

Southern Miss.

Photo by: Sun Belt Conference

Women’s Basketball Falls to ULM in Sun Belt Conference Tournament

3/5/2026 5:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Southern Miss women's basketball (15-16, 8-10 Sun Belt) was unable to contain tenth-seeded ULM's (15-15, 7-11 Sun Belt) balanced scoring attack and fell to the Warhawks 89-72 to drop out of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Jakayla Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) led all scorers with 25 points, but her efforts were not enough to counter seven Warhawks in double-figures. Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) also notched double-figures with 14 points while Johnson and Brikayla Gray (Hebron, Miss.) led the Lady Eagles with six rebounds.

Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) got Southern Miss on the board early on the opening possession in what became a back-and-forth first quarter. Gray drove through to tie the quarter 4-4 before ULM later tied the frame 6-6 at the free throw line, which is where the margin stood at the first media timeout.

Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) and Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) combined for a quick 8-0 run out of the timeout to put Southern Miss up 14-6. Thames finished off the frame at the free throw line and put Southern Miss up 19-12 heading into the second quarter.

Johnson, who missed over half of the first quarter due to injury evaluation, returned with just over two minutes to play in the frame and was scoreless in the opener. She opened the second quarter with back-to-back threes to give Southern Miss its largest lead of the day – 11 points – 1:27 into the quarter.

The Warhawks pushed the margin close but Johnson gave the Lady Eagles another double-digit lead with six to play, setting the score at 29-19. ULM chipped into the Lady Ealge lead, cutting the margin to three with a minute to play and then just one point with 38 seconds until halftime. Keats extended the lead back to four before a buzzer beater three from the Warhawks set the score at 41-40 at halftime.

Johnson led all scorers with 13 points at the half, all scored in the second quarter, while Southern Miss shot 51.5 percent (17-of-33) overall and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from the arc.

Coming out of the half, ULM tied the game and then took the lead at the free throw line on their first possession of the second half though Johnson made it 15 points on her day on the ensuing possession to give Southern the lead and what became the final lead Southern Miss held all game.

After Johnson's make, ULM ran out to a 7-0 run to lead 49-43 and force a Southern Miss timeout. The run finished at 13-3 overall after a Breland basket halted momentum for ULM. ULM pushed the margin to as many as 14 points with 2:50 to play in the frame and led Southern Miss 68-59 heading into the final quarter.

ULM turned up the pressure, forcing two Southern Miss turnovers and six missed shots to start the fourth quarter. The Warhawks led 77-63 by the time Johnson broke the streak of failed field goals with 5:24 to play.

Southern Miss managed to come back to within 13 but ULM had the foul advantage and closed out the game at the line, escaping the game with thanks to a 21-point fourth frame.

The Warhawks out-scored Southern Miss 49-31 in the second half and out-rebounded the Lady Eagles 47-30 overall, including 19-6 on the offensive glass.

ULM's J'Mani Ingram led the Warhawks with 17 points while Marissa Gasaway tallied a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double. Nakiyah Mays-Prince came up one assist short of a double-double, posting 11 points and nine helpers.

Southern Miss' first season under Missy Bilderback comes to a close with a 15-16 overall record – the best first season by a first-year Southern Miss coach in 27 years.

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