HAMMOND – After a week off to concentrate on fall semester final examinations, the Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will return to the court on Saturday, completing a home-and-home series with Louisiana-Lafayette at 3:15 p.m. in the Cajun Dome.

Saturday's game between the Lady Lions (3-5) and Ragin' Cajuns (2-5) will be the finale of a basketball doubleheader in Lafayette. The ULL men's team opens the day's action with a 1 p.m. game versus Florida Atlantic.

Saturday's game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net. Live stats will also be available at www.ragincajuns.com.

Southeastern will be facing Louisiana-Lafayette for the second time in as many games. Last Saturday in Hammond, the Lady Lions rallied from six points down in the final minute and sent ULL home with a 62-58 overtime defeat.

Down 51-45 with 48 seconds remaining, Southeastern got five points from sophomore guard Kelli Jenkins and the Cajuns missed three of four free throws to give the Lady Lions one last chance.

With the Lady Lions trailing by two with 3.9 seconds left, senior wing Quantae Thomas fired a long pass that freshman guard Erica Burgess pulled down just beyond half court. The speedy Memphis, Tenn. native was able to get to the rim and her finger roll went through the net at the buzzer to force overtime.

In the extra period, Louisiana-Lafayette jumped out to a four-point lead, but a three-point play by Kelli Jenkins keyed an 8-0 game-ending run and the Lady Lions clinched their third victory of the season.

In the win, Kelli Jenkins scored a career-high 18 points, while junior forward Rashima Jenkins (11 points), Burgess (nine points) and Thomas (eight points) chipped in to aid a balanced Southeastern attack. Thomas' career-high 12 rebounds allowed Southeastern to hold a 48-44 rebounding edge, while senior post Zevy Ivory grabbed eight boards.

Louisiana-Lafayette led the majority of the game in large part due to scoring 22 points off 29 Southeastern turnovers. However, the Lady Lions were able to net 16 points off 23 Cajun turnovers, keyed by junior guard Chelsea Hix and her team-high three steals.

The win improved Southeastern to 3-0 this season when they score 60 points or more. For the season, Southeastern is averaging 58.6 points per contest, but committing 21.5 turnovers per game. Thomas leads the team with 11.6 points per game, followed by senior guard Kim Edmonson (9.5 ppg), Kelli Jenkins (8.1 ppg), Rashima Jenkins (6.6 ppg) and Ivory (6.3 ppg). Kelli Jenkins has also been the team's top distributor and is currently ranked fifth in the Southland with 4.0 assists per contest.

Southeastern is out-rebounding opponents by just under four boards per outing, averaging 39.6 rebounds per game. Ivory leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per contest, followed by Thomas (5.6 rpg) and Rashima Jenkins (4.8 rpg).

Defensively, Southeastern is holding opponents to 61.8 points per game and has forced 19.8 turnovers per contest. Kelli Jenkins leads the team with 1.5 steals per game, followed by Burgess with a 1.3 per game average. Junior center Kasia Gawor (0.8 blocks per game) and Ivory (0.5 bpg) are the top shot blockers for the Lady Lions.

With 62 career blocked shots, Ivory in ninth of the school's all-time list. Hix is currently eighth in school history with 75 career three-pointers, while Edmonson (68 career three-pointers) is five away from cracking the school's top 10. Edmonson is already 10th on the program's career list with 210 attempts from outside the arc, while Hix ranks sixth in school history with a .364 career three-point field goal percentage.

In last Saturday's win, Southeastern did a nice job of containing Louisiana-Lafayette's top two scorers coming in – sophomore forward Mercedes Johnson and senior forward Alexis Green – to a combined three points. However, junior guard Jasmine Barnes poured in a game-high 23 points to lead three Ragin' Cajuns in double figures.

Freshman guard Jamie Gunter contributed 14 points and a game-high four steals, while junior forward Lyndra Bell came off the bench to chip in 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

For the season, ULL is averaging 60.1 points per game and is committing 22.7 turnovers per contest. Johnson leads the team with 11.6 points per game, followed by Green (9.4 ppg), Barnes (8.4 ppg) and Gunter (7.6 ppg). Barnes leads the team with 1.9 assists per contest.

Louisiana-Lafayette is averaging 36.7 rebounds per contest, but have been out-rebounded by just under eight rebounds per game. Johnson (4.7 rpg), Green (4.6 rpg) and Bell (4.3 rpg) are the team's top rebounders.

On the defensive end, the Cajuns are allowing 70.6 points per game and forcing 21.7 turnovers per contest. Johnson, Green, Gunter and Barnes all share the team lead with 1.3 steals per game.

Southeastern heads into Saturday's game with a 27-10 advantage in the all-time series with Louisiana-Lafayette. However, last week's win was Southeastern's first over the Cajuns since the 1998-99 season and the Lady Lions have not won in Lafayette since the 1995-96 campaign.

Following Saturday's game, Southeastern will return home to host Spring Hill on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. Next Thursday's game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net, where live stats will also be available. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring Southeastern sophomore guard Amber Crenshaw, courtesy of the Southeastern PRIDE (Positive Role models Involved in the Development of Excellence).

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