# 2024–25 Southern Miss Lady Eagles basketball team

The 2024–25 Southern Miss Lady Eagles basketball team represented the University of Southern Mississippi during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The team was led by 21st-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 10–21, 5–13 in Sun Belt play, to finish in thirteenth place.
On February 21, 2025, Lee-McNelis announced her retirement effective at the end of the season.

## Previous season

The Lady Eagles finished the 2023–24 basketball season with an overall record of 20–14 and 10–8 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. They lost in the conference tournament to James Madison 77–49. They received an at-large bid into the WNIT, where they would fall to Louisiana–Monroe in the Super 16 round.

## Preseason

On October 14, 2024, the Sun Belt Conference released their preseason coaches poll. Southern Miss was picked to finish seventh in the Sun Belt regular season.

### Preseason rankings

Sun Belt preseason poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | James Madison | 191 (12) |
| 2 | Troy | 169 (2) |
| 3 | Old Dominion | 167 |
| 4 | Louisiana–Monroe | 150 |
| 5 | Louisiana | 122 |
| 6 | Marshall | 118 |
| 7 | Southern Miss | 113 |
| 8 | Georgia State | 107 |
| 9 | Coastal Carolina | 77 |
| 10 | Texas State | 67 |
| 11 | Appalachian State | 61 |
| 12 | Georgia Southern | 53 |
| 13 | Arkansas State | 50 |
| 14 | South Alabama | 25 |
Source:

### Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams

Preseason All-Sun Belt teams :
| Team | Player | Position | Year |
| Second | Melyia Grayson | Center | 5th Year |
Source:

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2024* 6:00 p.m. | | Mississippi College | W 75–43 | | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, MS |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 4, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bowling Green MAC–SBC Challenge | L 67–71 | 0–1 | Stroh Center (1,786) Bowling Green, OH |
| November 7, 2024* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | Blue Mountain Christian | W 87–60 | 1–1 | Reed Green Coliseum (3,300) Hattiesburg, MS |
| November 11, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | William Carey | W 66–47 | 2–1 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,595) Hattiesburg, MS |
| November 15, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southeastern Louisiana | L 61–68 | 2–2 | Pride Roofing University Center (1,338) Hammond, LA |
| November 23, 2024* 12:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. No. 18 Baylor Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 55–101 | 2–3 | Imperial Arena (990) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| November 24, 2024* 5:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Columbia Battle 4 Atlantis consolation 2nd round | L 66–85 | 2–4 | Imperial Arena (313) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| November 25, 2024* 6:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Texas A&M Battle 4 Atlantis 7th place game | L 57–79 | 2–5 | Imperial Arena (155) Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| December 1, 2024* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | at UAB | L 66–87 | 2–6 | Bartow Arena (233) Birmingham, AL |
| December 5, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Mississippi Valley State | W 77–66 | 3–6 | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, MS |
| December 8, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Memphis | W 82–69 | 4–6 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,258) Hattiesburg, MS |
| December 20, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | L 54–92 | 4–7 | Great Southern Bank Arena (1,731) Springfield, MO |
| Sun Belt regular season ||||||
| December 29, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Georgia State | W 73–59 | 5–7 (1–0) | GSU Convocation Center (1,384) Atlanta, GA |
| January 2, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Old Dominion | L 47–65 | 5–8 (1–1) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,200) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 4, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Appalachian State | L 56–76 | 5–9 (1–2) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,166) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 9, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana–Monroe | L 75–84 | 5–10 (1–3) | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (838) Monroe, LA |
| January 11, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana | L 68–77 | 5–11 (1–4) | Cajundome (569) Lafayette, LA |
| January 16, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe | L 55–67 | 5–12 (1–5) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,234) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 18, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | South Alabama | W 78–49 | 6–12 (2–5) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,291) Hattiesburg, MS |
| January 24, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at James Madison | L 47–62 | 6–13 (2–6) | Atlantic Union Bank Center (2,320) Harrisonburg, VA |
| January 26, 2025 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Marshall | W 54–48 | 7–13 (3–6) | Cam Henderson Center (1,132) Huntington, WV |
| January 30, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas State | W 54–48 | 8–13 (4–6) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,307) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 1, 2025 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Troy | L 45–70 | 8–14 (4–7) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,613) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 5, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia Southern | L 42–49 | 8–15 (4–8) | Reed Green Coliseum (1,202) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 8, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Ohio MAC-SBC Challenge | W 58–46 | 9–15 | Reed Green Coliseum (1,160) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 12, 2025 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Arkansas State | L 53–74 | 9–16 (4–9) | First National Bank Arena (5,089) Jonesboro, AR |
| February 15, 2025 3:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Troy | L 59–86 | 9–17 (4–10) | Trojan Arena (1,857) Troy, AL |
| February 19, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at South Alabama | L 57–66 | 9–18 (4–11) | Mitchell Center (504) Mobile, AL |
| February 22, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Texas State | L 57–62 | 9–19 (4–12) | Strahan Arena San Marcos, TX |
| February 26, 2025 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Arkansas State | L 55–56 | 9–20 (4–13) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,241) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 28, 2025 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana | W 64–53 | 9–21 (4–14) | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, MS |
| Sun Belt tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2025 11:30 a.m., ESPN+ | (13) | vs. (12) Georgia Southern First Round | L 59–70 | 10–21 | Pensacola Bay Center Pensacola, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source: