The Southern Miss women lost Thursday’s home game to Texas-El Paso 89-72 at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg.
The Golden Eagles fell to 9-4 and 1-1 in Conference USA with the setback.
Shonte Hailes had 28 points for Southern Miss in the defeat; Kelsey Jones scored 12, and Liz Gibbs scored 10.
“They’re very good. They’re very poised,” Southern Miss head coach Joye Lee-McNelis said of UTEP in a news release from the school. “They run everything like it’s a machine. They don’t make a lot of mistakes, so you have to force them to make one. They’re making a turnaround from where they were a year ago with all those injuries. Their freshmen have really bought into Kevin Baker’s culture and to what he expects. Any time a team struggles and makes a comeback, I’m proud of them. Hats off to him; they very well may be the best team in the league.”
Southern Miss will host Texas-San Antonio at 4 p.m. Saturday at Reed Green Coliseum.
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