# 2023–24 Southern Miss Lady Eagles basketball team

The 2023–24 Southern Miss Lady Eagles basketball team represented the University of Southern Mississippi during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team was led by 20th-year head coach Joye Lee-McNelis, and played their home games at the Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 20–14, 10–8 in Sun Belt play, to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.

## Previous season

The Lady Eagles finished as co-conference champions for the 2022–23 basketball season with an overall record of 21–10 and 13–5 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for first place. They lost in the conference tournament to Texas State 85–57 and were unable to secure a bid into the NCAA tournament.
Despite her recurring battle with lung cancer, head coach Joye Lee-McNelis stated that she would be back to coach the 2023–24 season.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2023* 6:00 p.m. | | Mississippi College | W 96–44 | | Reed Green Coliseum (350) Hattiesburg, MS |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 6, 2023* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | William Carey | W 88–46 | 1–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (3,566) Hattiesburg, MS |
| November 11, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Akron MAC–SBC Challenge | W 77–60 | 2–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,375) Hattiesburg, MS |
| November 18, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at North Alabama | W 91–63 | 3–0 | Flowers Hall Florence, AL |
| November 21, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 61–49 | 4–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,374) Hattiesburg, MS |
| November 24, 2023* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | North Dakota Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic | W 75–53 | 5–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,366) Hattiesburg, MS |
| November 25, 2023* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Samford Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic | W 51–33 | 6–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,489) Hattiesburg, MS |
| December 2, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 19 Ole Miss | W 61–59 | 7–0 | Reed Green Coliseum (2,653) Hattiesburg, MS |
| December 10, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Memphis | L 67–69 | 7–1 | Elma Roane Fieldhouse (1,077) Memphis, TN |
| December 20, 2023* 3:30 p.m. | | vs. Cleveland State Homewood Suites Classic | L 63–70 | 7–2 | Alico Arena (108) Fort Myers, FL |
| December 21, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Florida Gulf Coast Homewood Suites Classic | L 62–78 | 7–3 | Alice Arena (1,319) Fort Myers, FL |
| Sun Belt regular season ||||||
| December 30, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Marshall | L 72–87 | 7–4 (0–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,538) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 3, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Coastal Carolina | L 71–88 | 7–5 (0–2) | HTC Center (331) Conway, SC |
| January 6, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Old Dominion | L 62–68 | 7–6 (0–3) | Chartway Arena (1,816) Norfolk, VA |
| January 11, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | James Madison | L 76–81 | 7–7 (0–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,368) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 13, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | South Alabama | W 77–69 | 8–7 (1–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,586) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 18, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia State | W 82–75 | 9–7 (2–4) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,448) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 20, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe | L 58–70 | 9–8 (2–5) | Reed Green Coliseum (5,587) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 25, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Troy | L 70–77 | 9–9 (2–6) | Trojan Arena (1,567) Troy, AL |
| January 27, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at South Alabama | W 77–43 | 10–9 (3–6) | Mitchell Center (331) Mobile, AL |
| February 1, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana | W 55–48 | 11–9 (4–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,606) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 3, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Troy | W 72–63 | 12–9 (5–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,667) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 7, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Georgia Southern | W 62–54 | 13–9 (6–6) | Hanner Fieldhouse (632) Statesboro, GA |
| February 10, 2024* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Buffalo MAC-SBC Challenge | L 46–62 | 13–10 | Alumni Arena (1,756) Buffalo, NY |
| February 15, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Arkansas State | W 57–48 | 14–10 (7–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (4,247) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 17, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas State | W 68–58 | 15–10 (8–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (4,425) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 22, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana–Monroe | L 52–57 | 15–11 (8–7) | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,086) Monroe, LA |
| February 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Arkansas State | W 70–59 | 16–11 (9–7) | First National Bank Arena Jonesboro, AR |
| February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Texas State | W 67–59 | 17–11 (10–7) | Strahan Arena (751) San Marcos, TX |
| March 1, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana | L 57–58 $^{OT}$ | 17–12 (10–8) | Cajundome (872) Lafayette, LA |
| Sun Belt tournament ||||||
| March 6, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (11) Coastal Carolina Second round | W 70–53 | 18–12 | Pensacola Bay Center (588) Pensacola, FL |
| March 8, 2024 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (3) James Madison Quarterfinals | L 49–77 | 18–13 | Pensacola Bay Center (842) Pensacola, FL |
| WNIT ||||||
| March 20, 2024* 6:00 p.m. | | UAB First round | W 79–74 | 19–13 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,130) Hattiesburg, MS |
| March 23, 2024* 5:00 p.m. | | Murray State Second round | W 78–67 $^{OT}$ | 20–13 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,566) Hattiesburg, MS |
| March 27, 2024* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe Super 16 | L 71–84 | 20–14 | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,257) Monroe, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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