SMU women lose to Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (SMU) – Despite the first double-double of the season by Haley Day, the SMU women’s basketball team fell 75-63 to Southern Miss on the road Thursday night. The Mustangs fell to 10-9, 3-3 in Conference USA, while the Golden Eagles improved to 9-11, 4-3 C-USA.

Haley Day and Samantha Mahnesmith each scored 10 points to lead the Mustangs, but the Golden Eagles had five players in double-figures, led by Jamierra Faulkner’s 19 points. Day grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

The Golden Eagles shot 56.7-percent in the first half, outscoring SMU 39-30 in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Mustangs connected on just 12-of-34 from the field in the first half, 34.3-percent.

Southern Miss opened the game on a 7-0 run before Delisha Wills scored the first three points for SMU, sinking a layup and hitting the free throw to finish the 3-point play. The play sparked an 11-2 run to give SMU its first lead of the game, 11-9 with 16:26 remaining.

SMU hit six of its first eight shots of the game to take the lead, but the Golden Eagles finished the half making 12-of-19 shots to take the nine-point advantage into the locker room.

The Golden Eagles opened the second half with another 7-0 run, stretching the lead to 46-30. By the first media timeout of the half, USM led 50-35, taking advantage of four SMU turnovers in the first four minutes.

The Mustangs never got within ten points over the remainder of the game, ending their three-game winning streak. SMU shot 36.9-percent for the game (24-of-65), while the Golden Eagles made 47.5-percent from the field (29-of-61).

SMU’s next game will come against Houston on the road Sunday at 2 p.m.