Southern Miss is scheduled to begin its Sun Belt Conference Championship run Monday against top-seeded James Madison in a quarterfinal at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama. The calendar lists kickoff for 7 p.m. Central time.
The eighth-seeded Golden Eagles (7-6-4, 4-4-2 Sun Belt) clinched a spot in the eight-team tournament on the final day of the regular season, beating ULM 1-0. Alessia Navarro scored in the eighth minute off an assist from Ava Bynes. The win was Southern Miss’ fifth shutout of the season and its third 1-0 road victory in conference play.
In his first season as coach, Danny Owens led Southern Miss to four conference wins and 14 Sun Belt points, program highs since the team joined the league. The Golden Eagles’ seven overall wins are their most in a season since moving to the Sun Belt in 2022.
Bynes leads Southern Miss with six goals, three assists and 15 points. Shaelynn Quick has five goals and 10 points, and earned Third-Team All-Sun Belt recognition Thursday. Lorilee Taylor leads the team with four assists, while Olivia Tribolet has three goals and two assists.
James Madison (9-5-3, 7-1-2) shared the regular-season title with Old Dominion at 23 points and took the No. 1 seed on a tiebreaker. The Dukes are unbeaten in their past seven matches. Ginny Lackey leads their offense with 15 goals, three assists and 33 points.
The teams met in Southern Miss’ Sun Belt opener Sept. 18, when James Madison won 5-0 in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles went 4-3-2 in their final nine conference matches, earning wins at Arkansas State, South Alabama and ULM, as well as a victory over Louisiana Tech.
James Madison leads the all-time series 2-0-1. The teams’ previous meeting in 2022 ended in a scoreless draw, followed by two Dukes victories. Monday’s game is their first postseason and neutral-site matchup.
Southern Miss is making its third Sun Belt Championship appearance and first trip to Foley since 2023. It lost 1-0 to Georgia State in both of its previous tournament appearances, in 2022 and 2023. Monday’s quarterfinal winner is scheduled to meet the winner of No. 4 Georgia State and No. 5 South Alabama in Wednesday’s semifinals at 7 p.m. Central time.
