HAMMOND – After a week off to concentrate on final examinations, the Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will return to action on Sunday, facing Louisiana-Lafayette in a 2 p.m. non-conference contest at the Earl K. Long Gym.
 
Southeastern (4-4) will be looking for its first road win of the 2011-12 season when it faces the host Ragin' Cajuns (3-4). Sunday'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 be available at www.ragincajuns.com.
 
The Lady Lions snapped a two-game losing skid last Sunday with an 85-72 win over Spring Hill. Junior forward Aja Gibson led four Southeastern players in double figures with 19 points.
 
Gibson was joined in double figures by freshman guard Elizabeth Styles (11 points), junior forward Brandi Simmons (10 points) and senior guard Jessica Sommers (10 points). Simmons also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and shared the team assist lead with junior guard Latoria Holder, as both dished out four.
 
Southeastern is averaging 65.0 points per game and shooting 42.5 percent from the floor. Gibson is the lone Lady Lion averaging in double figures with 12.9 points per game. Senior guard Kelli Jenkins (9.0 ppg), Simmons (8.6 ppg), freshman guard Symone Miller (6.5 ppg) and Holder (6.3 ppg) are the other top scorers for Southeastern.
 
Jenkins leads the team with 3.4 assists per game. Holder and Styles follow and are tied for second on the team with 2.3 assists per contest. Jenkins continues to climb the school's all-time assist list, as she ranks sixth in school history with 344 assists.
 
Southeastern is averaging 37.2 rebounds per game and is out-rebounding opponents by 0.1 rebound per contest. Simmons, who has three double-digit rebound performances this season, leads the way with 7.9 rebounds per outing. Gibson (5.5 rpg) and Holder (4.5 rpg) have also been effective on the glass.
 
The Lady Lions are holding opponents to 63.9 points per contest and forcing 20.0 turnovers per game. Holder (1.8 steals per game) and Styles (1.6 spg) have been the most aggressive players on the team defensively. Freshman forward Hillary Shaffer continues to lead the team with 1.0 block per contest.
 
Southeastern will be facing a Louisiana-Lafayette team that has won its last two games and will also be coming off a lengthy layoff. The Ragin' Cajuns last game was a 60-49 win over Southern on Dec. 3.
 
In the win, Louisiana-Lafayette rallied late to pull away from Southern. Senior guard Krystal Motley fueled the Ragin' Cajun attack with 19 points. Senior center Kemi Rotibi finished just short of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Michelle Brunker dished out a game-high five assists, while junior forward Josie West had a game-high five steals.
 
Louisiana-Lafayette is averaging 57.9 points per game and shooting 38.1 percent from the field. Motley leads the team with 16.6 points per game, followed by senior forward Mercedes Johnson, who has missed the past two games, who averages 11.4 points per contest. Motley has also been the team's top distributor on the squad, dishing out 1.8 assists per game.
 
The Ragin' Cajuns are averaging 35.4 rebounds per contest, but are being out-rebounded by 3.9 rebounds per game. Rotibi (8.0 rpg) and Johnson (7.2 rpg) give ULL an effective rebounding tandem.
 
Opponents are averaging 68.6 points per game versus the Ragin' Cajuns, while Louisiana-Lafayette is forcing 18.0 turnovers per contest. Freshman guard Robbie Brown averages a team-high 1.9 steals per game, while Rotibi's 2.1 blocked shots per contest paces the squad.
 
Southeastern leads the all-time series, 29-12, but will be looking to avoid a season sweep by the Ragin' Cajuns, who defeated the Lady Lions, 69-57, in Hammond on Nov. 29. In that loss, Gibson (17 points) and Jenkins (10 points) led Southeastern offensively, while Simmons and Holder pulled down nine rebounds apiece. Louisiana-Lafayette countered with a career-high 27 points from Motley. Rotibi had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with six blocked shots.
 
Following Sunday's contest, Southeastern will close out the pre-Christmas portion of its schedule when it hosts the Christmas Classic on Friday and Saturday in the University Center. The Lady Lions open the tournament with a 7 p.m. contest versus Alcorn State on Friday and host Florida A&M on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Both of Southeastern's tournament games will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net. Styles will be Saturday's Spotlight Player of the Game and the first 100 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Savannah, Ga. native courtesy of the Southeastern PRIDE.