Southern Miss (8-9, 0-4 C-USA) has now lost five games in a row following a 71-60 road loss to UAB (15-2, 3-1 C-USA) on Saturday. The loss puts the Lady Eagles below .500 for the first time this season.

Both teams played a closely contested first quarter. Back-to-back shots put the Lady Eagles up 4-2 in the first two minutes of the quarter. Southern Miss held a 13-12 lead with 57 seconds left in the quarter, but two free throws near the end of the period gave UAB a 14-13 lead.

UAB maintained a lead for the entire second quarter. Southern Miss cut the Blazer lead to eight points with at the 4:28 mark, but UAB scored 10 points to close out the quarter and take a 38-22 lead over the Lady Eagles at halftime.

Freshman guard Daishai Almond hit a three-pointer at the buzzer in the third quarter to cut the UAB lead to 53-45 heading into the fourth quarter. Overall, Southern Miss outscored the Blazers 23-15 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to eight points again.

The Lady Eagles continued to cut the UAB early in the final period. Two consecutive field goals followed by two free throws cut the UAB lead to four points early on. However, UAB scored seven straight points after that and gained separation over the Lady Eagles, eventually culminating in the 70-61 win for the Blazers.

After scoring a combined five points in the team’s previous two games, junior Shonte Hailes led the team with 12 points against UAB. Redshirt senior Megan Brown was behind Hailes with nine points.

Junior Alarie Mayze led all Southern Miss players with nine rebounds. As a team, the Lady Eagles outrebounded UAB 42-33.

Still, the loss means the Lady Eagles have yet to win a conference game this season. During the team’s current losing streak, Southern Miss has lost each contest by 11 points or more.

The team will look to snap the losing streak and earn its first conference win against Charlotte on Jan. 17. Tip-off in Reed Green Coliseum is set for 6 p.m.