PENSACOLA, Fla. – 12-seeded Georgia Southern and 11-seeded Marshall won their first-round matchups on Tuesday to advance to second round of the 2025 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship.
Georgia Southern took down 13-seeded Southern Miss, 70-59, while Marshall had a dominant win over 14-seeded South Alabama, 73-59.
Game 1: (12) Georgia Southern 70, (14) Southern Miss 59 [Box Score]
Leah Johnson recorded the first double-double of the tournament with a 26-point, 10 rebound game to lead Georgia Southern (15-17) to victory over Southern Miss (10-21).
Under the direction of first year head coach Hana Haden, Georgia Southern secured its victory thanks to their dominant presence in the post. The Eagles scored 50 points in the paint compared to the Golden Eagles 24 and out rebounded them 43 to 29.
Georgia Southern had a five-point lead heading in the second quarter and were able to stretch it to eight at the half, trying to keep Southern Miss at bay. The Eagles outshot the Golden Eagles 53.1 to 44.0 from the field, going 17 for 32.
Southern Miss would try to keep things close, yet were not able to close the gap beyond five in the second half, before falling to Georiga Southern by 11.
Johnson was supported by Indya Green who had a double-double of her own with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Nicole Gwynn who had 11 points of her own.
Southern Miss was led by Melyia Grayson, who scored 16 points and seven boards.
Southern Miss sees their season come to an end while saying a heartfelt farewell to their head coach Joye Lee-McNeil’s who announced that she will retire at the end of the season after 21 seasons at Southern Miss.
12-seed Georgia Southern will face 9-seed ULM tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. CT on ESPN+.
Game 1: (13) South Alabama 59, (11) Marshall 73 [Box Score]
Marshall (12-19) advances to the second round after taking down South Alabama (6-24), 73-59.
Marshall is the defending champions and improve to 5-1 all-time in the conference tournament with the win. They too are led by a first-year head coach, as Juli Fulks earns her first win in the Sun Belt conference tournament.
The Thundering Herd were led by the league’s leading scorer, Aislynn Hayes, who had 22 points in the victory, shooting 8-15 from the field and 4-6 from beyond the arc.
Marshall got out to a massive lead early in the matchup and were shooting 60.0 from the field heading into the second quarter with a 21-8 lead. South Alabama didn’t shy away, playing physical defense in order to cut the deficit. The Jaguars would get as close as 10 but enter the half down 28-39.
Marshall played lock down defense coming out of the half, holding South Alabama scoreless for the first seven minutes of the half. Marshall would end up holding South Alabama to just one made field goal in the third and would continue to pull away and pull out the 59-73 victory.
South Alabama was led by Nadia Howard who had 16 points and five rebounds, the Jaguars only double-digit scorer in the game.
11-seed Marshall will face 10-seed Texas State tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
2025 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Women’s Basketball Championship
Tuesday, March 4
Game 1 – (12) Georgia Southern def. (13) Southern Miss, 70-59
Game 2 – (11) Marshall def. (14) South Alabama, 73-59
Wednesday, March 5
Game 3 – (9) ULM vs. (12) Georgia Southern – 11:30 a.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 4 – (10) Texas State vs. (11) Marshall – 2 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Thursday, March 6
Game 5 – (8) Georgia State vs. Winner Game 3 – 11:30 a.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 6 – (7) Louisiana vs. Winner Game 4 – 2 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Friday, March 7
Game 7 – (5) Old Dominion vs. Winner Game 5 – 11:30 a.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 8 – (6) App State vs. Winner Game 6 – 2 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Saturday, March 8
Game 9 – (4) Coastal Carolina vs. Winner Game 7 – 12:00 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 10 – (3) Troy vs. Winner Game 8 – 2:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Sunday, March 9
Game 11 – (1) James Madison vs. Winner Game 9 – 11:30 a.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 12 – (2) Arkansas State vs. Winner Game 10 – 2 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Monday, March 10 (Championship)
Game 13 – Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 – 1 p.m. CT [ESPN/ESPN2]