PENSACOLA, Fla. – A rebound margin of +17 and 21 made free throws sent the ULM Warhawks (16-15, 7-11 Sun Belt) onto the fourth round of the Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Conference Championships, defeating Southern Miss (15-16, 8-10 Sun Belt). In an 89-72 win, the 2025-26 Warhawks become the first team to win more than one Sun Belt tournament game. Despite a 25-point showing from Jakayla Johnson, it was seven Warhawks scoring in double figures that set the standard.
"I'm really proud of our girls, coming into this tournament," said ULM head coach Scotty Fletcher. "This team prepares and really buys into the vision. In this game, we got down but we never quit."
In the seven ULM players that broke 10+ points, it was J'Mani Ingram that led the way, hitting seven free throws and collecting six rebounds. Marissa Gasaway claimed the lone double-double for the Warhawks, leading the team with a season-high 13 rebounds paired with 13 points. The seven players reaching double digits is the first time in the new millennium. With 23 second-chance points to USM's three and 27 bench points to their nine, the Warhawks put on a show, including a comeback in the second half.
Early buckets from Marcavia Shavers (10 pts, 2 rebs) and Ingram had the Warhawks ahead in the first few misses, ULM able to force misses on the Golden Eagles. Southern Miss shot 0-for-4 early but quickly recovered to find the 6-4 lead with 5:29 remaining in the quarter. The Warhawks had trouble finding shots for four minutes, allowing the Golden Eagles to force three consecutive turnovers for an 8-0 run. This set up Southern Miss for the 19-12 lead at the quarter break.
Two three-pointers from Southern Miss' Johnson expanded the lead, as Southern Miss found its largest lead of the night (11) with 8:33 on the clock. ULM continued to hit shots to try and chip away, but the Golden Eagles shot 53% in the quarter to stay ahead. With three minutes left in the half, ULM dropped three-straight shots, including a triple from Gasaway. Nakiyah Mays-Prince (11 pts, 9 ast) hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to just one point at the half, 41-40.
Free throws gave ULM the lead just 10 seconds into the third quarter, but USM took the lead right back with a jumper from Johnson. It was a triple from Asjah Inniss (13 pts, 5 reb) with just over seven minutes remaining that set off a scoring run, Jazmine Jackson (13 pts, 1 blk) collecting points to turn the tides. Keshunti Nichols (11 pts, 4 reb) then dropped a shot from beyond the arc to extend the run to 13-3, making it a double-digit lead. Multiple scoring runs had the Warhawks outscore Southern Miss 28-18 in the quarter as the lead was settled in ULM's favor, 68-59.
Free throws from ULM kept the team alive, the lack of free throws–Southern Miss shot 48% from the charity stripe–keeping the Golden Eagles behind. Nine unanswered points drove the Warhawks to their strongest lead of the contest with 17. Even as USM continued to work for shots, the damage was done and the Warhawks moved on to the fourth round with an 89-72 score.
"It was a total team effort and a total team win by our ball club," said Fletcher. "I'm really proud of our girls."
The Warhawks improve to 2-0 in Sun Belt Tournament play, next facing the sixth-seeded Old Dominion Monarchs. Tipoff against the Monarchs is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday (March 6) for an opportunity for ULM to rewrite the previous score this season against ODU.
