Lady Eagles suffer 65-55 home loss to Old Dominion

HATTIESBURG, Ms – Southern Miss (14-8, 7-4 Sun Belt Conference) opened its homestand with a chance to elevate its high standing in the conference, but Old Dominion instead handed the Lady Eagles a second consecutive loss that has them back to the drawing board.

 

“Old Dominion just came in here and took over our place. They stole about everything we had. Lampshades, VCRs, whatever we got- they took control,” Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said.

 

The Monarchs established control from the start of the game, and for a while, Southern Miss competed by tying the game seven times and even taking a four-point lead.

 

Domonique Davis and Femi Funeus drove the bulk of the team’s offensive production, scoring 11 of the 20 field goals in the game. Davis had a team-high 15 points and 7 rebounds and Funeus tallied 14 points and six boards.

 

“I was glad to have Davis in the game to be able to score for us and run the show,” Lee-McNelis said.

 

Coach McNelis looks on as her players suffer home defeat. (Charlie Luttrell, SM2)

 

Lee-McNelis also noted the production of Funeus in the post. Funeus has continued to carve more of a role in the lineup and contributed as the team’s leading post scorer over the last week, playing three consecutive games with more than 25 minutes on the court.

 

Lee-McNelis said that the rest of the team struggled to find success on offense, which showed in the box score. Outside of Funeus and Davis, the team shot for 32%, or 9-28.

 

And even though the game was tied at 26 at halftime thanks to a turnaround in the second quarter, the tempo and pace of the game never felt set and consistent for the Lady Eagles.

 

“The turnovers obviously were our Achilles heel,” Lee-McNelis said.

 

The Lady Eagles turned the ball over 23 times, disrupting the offensive flow of the game and leading to breakaway points for the Monarchs.

 

While Southern Miss forced 20 turnovers as well, Old Dominion took advantage of the battle with 22 points scored off of those mistakes.

 

Old Dominion rode away with the lead with a 20-point third-quarter performance and extended to a game-high 12-point lead near the end of the fourth quarter as the Lady Eagles could not find their way back into the game.

 

 

The Monarchs also capitalized on open looks from the perimeter, scoring 21 points off of 15 three-pointer attempts compared to Southern Miss’ 0-7 clip.

 

It was not a game consistent with the product that was on display earlier this season, which was something that Lee-McNelis said that the team needs to reassess in finding how to play their brand of basketball again- “Lady Eagle Basketball”.

 

Southern Miss has dropped to fifth place in the conference, behind Texas State, Louisiana, James Madison, and first-place Troy.

 

Southern Miss looks to rebound Saturday against South Alabama in a 2 p.m. home matchup.