The ULM Warhawk basketball teams picked up a win each on Saturday, with the women winning at Southern Miss, while the men recorded their first win of the Sun Belt Conference portion of the schedule at Old Dominion.

The ULM women’s basketball team (13-5, 5-2 Sun Belt Conference) won its fourth-consecutive SBC game with a 70-58 road victory over Southern Miss (9-8, 2-5) on Saturday (Jan. 20) afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, Miss.

The win marks the first time the Warhawks have defeated Southern Miss since 2012 and is the first time ULM has won inside Reed Green Coliseum since 2005. ULM had not won four conference games in a row since the 2010-11 season.

Nunu Bradford, who surpassed 1,000 career points in Saturday’s game, led the Warhawks in scoring with 27 points, hitting 9-of-15 field goal attempts and 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. Bradford was a pair of rebounds shy of a double-double and dished out five assists to go along with one steal. Katlyn Manuel posted 13 points and pulled down six rebounds off the glass. Lauren Gross shined in her return trip to Reed Green Coliseum, scoring 11 points on a trio of 3-point baskets. Sania Wells poured in nine points and tallied a pair of rebounds and assists.

The Warhawks trailed by two points at the end of the first half, but shot 43.3% from the field and 50% from downtown in the second half to pull away for the win. ULM’s defense held Southern Miss to shoot 26.5% from the field and 8.3% from three-point range in the final half of action. The Warhawks totaled 12 second-chance points and 14 points from fast breaks.

Bradford scored her first points of the afternoon with a layup in the first minute of action. After a scoreless three minutes of game time, Manuel deposited a bucket to put ULM ahead 4-0. Jakayla Johnson added a steal and score to keep the Warhawks ahead, 6-4 inside four minutes in the quarter. A driving layup by Wells and a Bradford deuce extended ULM’s lead to six. Before the final buzzer of the quarter, Wells banked in a shot from the logo and the Warhawks led 13-8 after the first 10 minutes.

Gross cashed in her first 3-pointer of the afternoon and ULM sustained its five-point lead. Bradford added another triple and the ‘Hawks inched ahead 19-13. Bradford registered her 12th point of the first half with a three that pushed ULM’s advantage to seven. Southern Miss outscored ULM 13-8 in the final 5:10 of the first half and jumped in front of the Warhawks at the break, 34-32.

Following a USM layup, Bradford and Wells both fired two points and ULM evened the score, 36-36. Both teams struggled to produce offense in the quarter with both teams scoreless for three minutes. After the Golden Eagles ended the scoring drought with a layup, Johnson swung a pass to Manuel inside for a layup to tie the count at 38. ULM finished the third quarter on a 7-0 scoring run that began with Brianna Harris finding Manuel under the basket for a layup with 2:04 on the clock. Gross sank a massive 3-pointer to give the Warhawks a five-point edge. Manuel delivered a putback layup inside a minute remaining to pull ULM ahead, 45-38.

Southern Miss closed the gap to four points with a three-pointer in the first minute of the last quarter. Bradford answered with an offensive rebound and a stepback three-pointer to keep ULM’s lead at seven. The Golden Eagles trimmed the Warhawks’ lead to four points four separate times in the middle stages of the quarter. Wells lofted a pass to a wide-open Bradford, who drained a three-pointer for her 1,000th career point at the 4:15 mark of the fourth quarter. Two possessions later, Gross knocked down her third 3-point bucket of the afternoon and ULM led by double figures for the first time all day. Southern Miss would not come within fewer than eight points of ULM’s lead down the stretch. The Warhawks concluded their road trip with a 70-58 win over the Golden Eagles.

The ULM women’s basketball team returns home to Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Thursday (Jan. 25) evening at 5 p.m. to take on Arkansas State.

ULM earned its first Sun Belt Conference win of the season and snapped a nine-game losing streak with an 80-73 win over Old Dominion Saturday night at Chartway Arena in the first-ever meeting between the two schools in men’s basketball.

Tyreke Locure led four Warhawks in double figures with 20 points, while Tyreese Watson added a career-high 16 points (6-of-10 field-goal attempts) for his fourth-straight game with 10-or-more points. Makai Willis had his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Jalen Bolden tallied his fourth double-double of the year with 11 points and 13 rebounds, with seven coming on the offensive end. Chaunce Jenkins led three Monarchs in double figures with 20 points.

ULM (5-12 overall, 1-5 Sun Belt Conference) had one of its best offensive games of the season, shooting 49% (24-of-49) from the field and its six 3-pointers were the most by the team in a game since Dec. 14 at Lamar. The Warhawks dominated the glass, outrebounding Old Dominion (5-13, 1-5), 44-21.

After ULM broke a 2-2 tie on a jumper by Savion Gallion, the game was never tied and the Warhawks never trailed.

For the fourth straight game, ULM controlled much of the first half. The difference Saturday was the Warhawks maintained the momentum through halftime and never let ODU get within striking distance.

ULM expanded the lead to nine, 17-8, on a layup by Willis with 11:58 left in the first half. ODU pulled back within six, 19-13, on free throws by R.J. Blakney. However, the Warhawks responded with the next five points, as Watson’s 3-pointer pushed the margin to double digits for the first time, 24-13, with 6:58 remaining in the half.

ODU moved within seven, 30-23, with a layup by Jenkins with 3:05 to play before halftime. ULM answered again, as Jerry Ngopot’s dunk on an assist from Watson moved the gap back to nine. Watson drilled a 3-pointer at the first half buzzer to give the Warhawks an 11-point halftime lead, 35-24.

The Monarchs made a push early in the second half, getting within six, 37-31, on a traditional 3-point play by Jenkins with 18:07 left. Moments later, ULM stretched the lead back to 11 as Locure buried a transition 3-pointer to go up 44-33 at the 16:18 mark. The lead grew to as much as 16, 54-38, on another transition trey by Locure with 11:09 to play.

ODU responded with a quick 8-0 run to cut the deficit in half, forcing ULM to take a timeout with 9:11 left. The two sides then traded points until the Warhawks pushed the lead back to 12, 69-57, on a layup by Watson with 2:47 remaining. ULM hit enough free throws down the stretch to pick up its first win since Dec. 5.

ULM returns to Fant-Ewing Coliseum to face South Alabama at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.