Southern Miss Clinches a Share of the Sun Belt Regular Season Title in Historic Performance

LAFAYETTE, La. – Lady Eagle basketball powered past Louisiana in a 69-64 overtime victory in Lafayette to claim a share of the Sun Belt title. Southern Miss also collected the 800th win in program history and tied the all-time record for conference games in a season with 13.
 
Tale of the Tape
Southern Miss (20-9, 13-5 Sun Belt) closed the regular season on a five-game winning streak thanks to an overtime thriller against Louisiana (16-14, 10-8 Sun Belt).
 
Louisiana claimed the first points of the game but Southern Miss stormed back using a 13-2 run. The Lady Eagles won the opening frame 17-8 thanks to Domonique Davis' six points. The DeRidder, La. native finished the day with a game-high 24 points in front of a large showing of her family and friends.
 
Louisiana responded in the second quarter to make it a 31-26 margin at halftime. The Cajuns continued to make hay at the rim, starting the second half on a 10-2 run to take their largest lead of the day.
 
Southern Miss struggled to find offensive rhythm throughout the second half. Southern Miss managed just nine points in the third to UL's 16. At the end of the third, the Ragin' Cajuns led 42-40 with 10 minutes to go.
 
Louisiana's offensive outburst was fueled by eight Lady Eagle turnovers in the third quarter.
 
The fourth quarter became a back-and-forth affair as Southern Miss and Louisiana wrestled the lead back and forth. The Black & Gold rode a 7-0 run into the final media timeout of the fourth quarter.
 
Southern Miss led at the final media, 52-49, before Louisiana quickly retook the lead under two minutes. Rose Warren drilled a long ball with 1:24 left in the game to take a two-point lead.
 
Louisiana tied it at 57-57 with 1:17 left in the game and the two teams finished the frame scoreless. UL bricked two free throws to end the game to send it into overtime.
 
Southern Miss played their third overtime in the same season for the first time since 2014-15 when the squad played four games through extra time.
 
The Lady Eagles rode out the Ragin' Cajuns 12-7 in overtime as Davis swiped a steal with nine seconds left and connected on the other end to push the score to 69-65.
 
Southern Miss claims its first regular season conference title since 1993-94 and for only the third time in program history (1988-89, 1993-94 and 2022-23). Most notably, the win marked the 800th win in program history, dating back to 1975.
 
Melyia Grayson finished the day with a double-double, grabbing 10 boards and scoring 16 points, leading the game in rebounds.
 
Jacorriah Bracey, the hero of the last matchup against UL, poured on 10 to give Southern Miss three Lady Eagles in double-figures.
 
Southern Miss ends its season 20-9 and 13-5 in Sun Belt play, both high water marks for the first time since 2014-15. With the win, Southern Miss guaranteed itself a spot in the top four of the Sun Belt Conference and, with a little help from Tony Kemper and the Marshall Thundering Herd, Southern Miss secured the third-overall seed behind James Madison and Texas State.
 
The Lady Eagles next action comes after enjoying a double bye in Pensacola. Southern Miss makes its Sun Belt Conference Tournament debut on March 3 at 5 p.m. against the winner of the No. 6 seed vs. the winner of the No. 11 vs. No. 14 game.