Southern Miss Athletics

The Lady Golden Eagles won 92-80, the second win in the Bilderback era.

The Reed Green Coliseum hosted a spectacle of a crowd for Southern Miss’ matchup with the William Carey Lady Crusaders in the largest Education Day game in program history. The showdown was an absolute barn burner — if the barn was also full of children screaming their heads off.

The contest started hot in William Carey’s favor. The name of the game for Southern Miss was keeping the Lady Crusaders reeled in, fighting especially hard for rebounds.

Another fault in the Lady Golden Eagles’ start was trouble from the three-point line. Coach Bilderback said in a preseason press conference that Southern Miss would live and die by the three. It was a slow start, but the Lady Golden Eagles lived later in the game.

As both teams settled in, Southern Miss spent much of the first quarter holding down the fort. The game speed quickened, and both teams traded possessions rapidly. Carly Keats led an offensive surge to tie the score at 24 entering the second quarter.

William Carey emerged from its between-quarter huddle faster than Southern Miss, which took the full time allotted. The Lady Crusaders came out hot and continued their shooting streak. A Thames-to-Keats pass for a three-pointer reignited the crowd and put the Lady Golden Eagles in front. Keats lit the crowd up even more with another three-pointer on the next possession. Southern Miss went on a run to take a 34-29 lead until William Carey ended it with free throws.

Aggressive defense from William Carey kept the Lady Golden Eagles on their toes. The Lady Crusaders forced Southern Miss to panic and simply try to maintain its lead until halftime.

Southern Miss, showing signs of heating up, started to pull away while William Carey began to cool off. Southern Miss entered halftime with a 48-38 lead.

Coming out of halftime, the Lady Golden Eagles showcased their rotation of bigger players, fought for rebounds and continued to generate turnovers. However, foul trouble began to play a role and helped keep William Carey in the game, as the Lady Crusaders capitalized at the free-throw line. The third quarter ended 67-58 in Southern Miss’ favor — nothing fancy, just the Lady Golden Eagles maintaining their lead.

William Carey tried to battle back early in the fourth quarter, cutting the Southern Miss lead to seven. From that point on, Southern Miss slipped late but held on, winning 92-80 to stay unbeaten in the Bilderback era.

The Lady Golden Eagles will continue their homestand against Blue Mountain with a 6 p.m. tipoff.