by NORFOLK, Va. – Jakayla Johnson scored the first six points of overtime to seal an 86-83 overtime victory over Old Dominion. The Lady Eagles trailed by as many as 17 points late in the third quarter before outscoring the Monarchs 42-22 in the final 18 minutes of the game.
Three Lady Eagles scored 20-plus points with Johnson (Clinton, Miss.) leading the way with 32 points. Hayleigh Breland (Wiggins, Miss.) and Carly Keats (Philadelphia, Miss.) added on 21 and 20 points, respectively, to round out the group which accounted for 73 of Southern Miss’ 86 points.
Southern Miss (12-10, 5-6 Sun Belt) trailed Old Dominion (13-10, 5-6 Sun Belt) by 17 points with 2:26 left in the third quarter and ultimately lost the frame 27-18 overall. The Lady Eagle win is the first overtime game and win since March 23, 2024, over Murray State in the second round of the Postseason WNIT. The Lady Eagles are now 29-36 in 65 all-time overtime games and 11-18 on the road.
Old Dominion took the games opening possession and eventually got the first basket of the night on a Simaru Fields run. Fields finished with 26 points on the night to lead the Lady Monarchs. Southern Miss got its first points from Johnson at the free throw line before ODU quickly ran back out to another lead. Meloney Thames (Philadelphia, Miss.) got Southern Miss its first lead of the day with 4:21 left in the opening quarter.
The two teams stayed close with Southern Miss leading by as many as four points in the early goings of the game. ODU managed to snatch the lead back on the final bucket of the quarter to lead 19-18 heading into the second frame.
Johnson led the charge early in the frame, giving Southern Miss its largest lead of the day with 2:44 left in the first half. Old Dominion ran down the lead to tie the game 37-37 heading into the locker room. ODU used a 10-2 run to tie it heading into the third. Both teams shot 33 percent from the floor but Southern Miss made 15 of its 17 free throws to hang in. Breland led the Lady Eagles at halftime with 13 point while Johnson had 11.
The Monarchs, though, had momentum and looked to take complete control of the game. ODU opened the third quarter on a 10-1 run, forcing Southern Miss to use a timeout down 47-38. The run continued to build until Fields gave Old Dominion its largest lead of the day – 17 points – and Southern Miss used another timeout. At that time, the Lady Eagles were trailing 61-44 and losing the third quarter 24-8.
Southern Miss braced itself and hit a 7-0 run late in the frame to bring the game back within single digits. Southern Miss trailed 64-55 heading into the fourth after losing the frame 27-18.
Breland cut the deficit to eight points with seven minutes to play and Keats splashed a three to keep the margin there on the next possession. Johnson scored her 24th point of the day to cut the game to 76-71 in favor of ODU before Whitney Hart (Baton Rouge, La.) stepped up in the final minute.
Her basket at 1:07 made it a three-point game and when Johnson cut it to one point with 31.9 on and-one, Southern Miss looked to tie it. Her free throw missed and ODU hit 1-of-2 at the line to move it back to a two-point game with 26 seconds to play. Hart grabbed the o-board and put it back for the game-tying bucket with 19.3 seconds left in regulation.
Southern Miss held off ODU but did not score on the final possession, sending the game to overtime. The Lady Eagles opened up an 8-0 run in the extra frame with Johnson accounting for the first six. Old Dominion’s Riley Stack broke the run with a free throw and the game eventually stood 86-83 with 31.5 to play. An Old Dominion timeout on their possession set up a potential game-tying shot again, but Southern Miss held its own and called a timeout with under 20 to play. Southern Miss did just enough to run the clock down and ODU’s final shot fell out of bounds.
