Box Score
THIBODAUX - The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team ended in road woes in Southland Conference play on Saturday, rolling past league rival Nicholls State, 85-46, at Stopher Gymnasium.
The Lady Lions (12-8, 4-3 SLC) took advantage of 21 turnovers and posted its most lopsided victory ever over a Southland Conference opponent and its biggest winning margin on the road since a 78-38 win over Texas Southern in the 1996-97 season. Nicholls State (0-18, 0-7 SLC) remained winless on the season.
For the third straight game, Southeastern connected on double-digit three-pointers, shooting 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from behind the arc. With nine regular season games remaining, the Lady Lions have already set a single-season school record with 160 three-pointers this season, breaking last season's mark of 153.
The Lady Lions had six different student-athletes convert from long range. Senior guard
Charinee Mitchell connected on three treys, while junior guard
Kim Edmonson and sophomore guard
Chelsea Hix hit two apiece. Senior forward
Kristy Carlin, junior forward
Zevy Ivory and freshman guard
Amber Crenshaw hit one apiece for the Lady Lions in the victory.
The key factor in Southeastern's win on Saturday was its defensive intensity. The Lady Lions have now held five opponents under 50 points this season and turned NSU's turnovers into 28 points. Southeastern finished with a season-high 15 steals. Hix finished with three steals, while Carlin, Mitchell, Edmonson, senior center
Adonna Weaver, senior guard
Bethany Sinclair and freshman
Kelli Jenkins each finished with two steals.
“We're very pleased to get our first Southland Conference road victory,” Southeastern head coach
Lori Davis Jones commented. “It was an important step for our program to be able to defeat a league opponent away from home. We were very pleased with our team's effort, especially on the defensive end.”
Mitchell led three Lady Lions in double figures with 15 points. Weaver added a career-high 14 points, while Hix chipped in with 10 points. Crenshaw came off the bench with a career-high nine points, while Carlin and Ivory added nine points as well for Southeastern, which had 10 different student-athletes score in the win. The Lady Lions finished with 17 assists versus just nine turnovers, as Jenkins dished out a game-high six assists, while committing only one turnover.
Southeastern also held a 40-29 rebounding edge, as Weaver pulled down a game-high seven rebounds. Senior forward Christie Bryant led Nicholls State with 14 points and six rebounds.
The game was even through the first eight minutes and Nicholls State took its final lead of the game on a pair of free throws by freshman forward Jasmine Hoskins with 11:44 left in the half. The Lady Lions would answer with a 10-0 run and an offensive rebound and basket by sophomore center
Rachel Mackie capped the rally and gave Southeastern a 22-14 edge with 9:09 remaining.
After Nicholls cut the lead to seven, Southeastern dominated the remained of the half. Two steals by Carlin in the final four minutes keyed an 11-0 run to close out the half and the Lady Lions went into the break with a 39-21 lead.
Southeastern scored the first five points of the second half and Nicholls State got no closer than 19 in the second half. A jumper by Jenkins capped a 16-4 Southeastern run and pushed the lead to 60-29 with 11 minutes left. The lead would grow to as many as 41 with the Colonels getting no closer than 24 for the remainder of the game.
Southeastern will be back in action on Wednesday, hosting defending SLC regular season champion Texas State at 7 p.m. in the University Center. Wednesday's game will be broadcast on the Internet only at www.LionSports.net.
