HATTIESBURG, Miss.- The Southern Miss Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball team is set to play in the WNIT Tourney for the second straight season. After a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds of the Conference USA tournament against Western Kentucky, coach Joye Lee-McNelis and this team have already proven they’ve got a lot of fight in them; But the taste left in the mouths of these girls after that game has to leave them yearning for redemption.
Well here’s their shot. The Lady Eagles square off in the first round of the WNIT against Texas Southern. Southern Miss boasts a record of 22-10 in Coach McNelis’s 11th season with the program. The Golden Eagles are led by their “Big 3,” featuring the likes of Jerontay Clemons, Tamara Jones, and Brooke Rhodes. Rhodes is a Senior transfer from Delta State, who had to sit out last season because of NCAA eligibility rules, and this girl is mean along the perimeter. She’s second in the league in 3-point percentage, and tied for fourth in total 3-pointers made. Jones leads the team in scoring on the season, with 15.9 points and 6.8 rebounds a game, followed by Clemons, who’s putting up 12.4 points and 6.1 rebounds a game.
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. tonight, at Reed-Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg. All seats are general admission, with adult tickets going for $10, and kids tickets will be $5. This is the 5th appearance in the WNIT for the Lady Eagles, but their first matchup ever with Texas Southern.
