By Robert Wilson
First-year Southern Miss women’s basketball coach Missy Bilderback found out something her team last weekend.
And she really liked what she saw.
The Lady Eagles, behind Clinton High and Jones County Junior College alumnus and Louisiana-Monroe transfer Jakayla Johnson’s 30 points, bounced back from its first Sun Belt Conference loss of the season with an impressive 98-95 victory over Troy.
Southern Miss had won its first two Sun Belt games with double digit victories over Louisiana-Lafayette and South Alabama, but lost to Arkansas State.
But two days later, the Lady Eagles bounced back with their big win over Troy for their 10th victory this season, tying last year’s season total of wins and improving to 3-1 in league play.
Southern Miss, which had a bye Thursday when most of the rest of the league played, is tied for fourth with Troy in the Sun Belt standings.
“I was really proud of our team, coming off a really tough loss,” Bilderback said. “Our team fought really hard in that one. They were disappointed but they had the resilience and toughness to come back and play arguably one of if not the best team in our league in Troy and find a way to get a win. We had great individual play – JK (Johnson) had a huge night. We had five starters in double figures, and great production off the bench. I thought the whole team was really engaged. They really poured their hearts into the last few days, trying to respond to the loss. Things are going to happen. We were either going to come back hungrier and fight harder or we would discouraged and disappointed and let that overwhelm us. I was really proud of our overall effort and being able to get this win. I have great people on this team first. I’ve said that all year. I’ve got 13 players that we really love and believe in. There were those moments where you could see the momentum shift and there were plays made that would kill that momentum. You’ve got to give credit to our players. Players win games and make plays and JK made a lot of them and a lot of other players stepped up with big shots, big rebounds and tough defensive plays, big stops when we needed them.” Johnson, a graduate student, led the charge against Troy. She made 11 of 20 shots from the field to along with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Johnson was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week. Johnson leads Southern Miss with 13.3 points per game this season and leads the Sun Belt with 24 points per game in conference games. She is one of three players in Division I to score at least 20 points in four or more conference games this season and the only player in the Sun Belt to do this season. It was the sixth time in her career Johnson had scored 30 points or more when she scored 30 against Troy.
“It was a big game and my grandma had battled cancer and I knew I had to play for her,” Johnson said. “She beat cancer. Also in those tough moments, sacrifice is one word I love. Sacrifice means doing whatever it takes for my team to get the win. Whether it is scoring, or getting a defensive stop or grabbing a rebound. Whatever the case may be. That’s what drives me. Our bench gave us great energy and by us communicating on the court, and I hit a few big shots, that’s contagious. We had positive energy with each other.”
Southern Miss’ 98 points set a new school record for most points in a conference game since joining the league four years ago. Johnson led five Southern Miss players in double figures. Senior point guard Carly Keats had 16 points, Hayleigh Breland 13, graduate student guard Meloney Thames 13 and Sakyia White 12.
All five double figure scorers have Mississippi ties.
Keats played at Neshoba Central High, Jones County Junior College and is an Arkansas transfer. Breland played at Harrison Central and Jackson State and is a Charlotte transfer. Thames played at Choctaw Central High, JCJC and Mississippi State and is a Louisiana-Monroe transfer. White played at Jones County Junior College and is Louisiana-Monroe transfer.
Bilderback – who replaced Joye Lee McNelis, who retired after 21 seasons as Southern Miss’ coach and passed away last year of cancer – also has strong Mississippi ties.
The Forrest County AHS High, Pearl River Community College and Southern Miss graduate had success at the high school level (16 years at Presbyterian Christian School), junior college level (eight years at Jones County Junior College) and Division I level (two years at Louisiana-Monroe). Bilderback won three state championships and two Overall Tournament titles at PCS, made seven consecutive trips to the NJCAA Tournament, including a Final Four finish, at JCJC, and led ULM to its first winning season in 14 years, won 21 games and had the best season in 20 years at the school in her first year at ULM two years ago.
Now that Bilderback has tied last year’s win total, she is after more wins and getting it on winning run in league play after the Troy victory. Southern Miss goes for its second straight league victory Saturday at noon Central at Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina. Appalachian State is 0-4 in league play. The game will be televised on ESPN plus and on radio on the Southern Miss Sports Network.
“Troy has been the gold standard at times in this league over the last 10 years,” Bilderback said. “We are really pleased to get this win and I believe it will catapult us into a really great run in Sun Belt play. It shows we can beat anybody. We expect to win these games, we expected to beat Arkansas State. We were disappointed in that outcome. This is a great league, there are a lot of great teams. It’s really rare for teams to run through the league without challenges and losses. We challenged our kids and we felt like it we responded the right way we would have an opportunity to win the game. For me, it is doing things the right way, playing to a standard, playing hard, being connected, being a great team. I know that sounds simple but it is a team sport and you’ve got to have everybody rowing the boat the same way or you are not getting there. I felt that and I saw that in our preparation. I saw how hungry there were to find a win. It feels really good as a coach that you’ve got people who are all pulling in the same direction. We are going on the road and road games are always tough games. We have an opportunity to get hot in Sun Belt play.”
