Game Notes

HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will close out its pre-Christmas schedule this when it hosts the inaugural Christmas Classic, which begins Friday at the University Center.
 
The Lady Lions (4-5) will open play on Friday, hosting Alcorn State (0-7) at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Southeastern will face off with Florida A&M (3-5) in a 4 p.m. contest. Both games will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net.
 
Southeastern's Southland Conference rival Northwestern State (3-5) will also participate in the four-team tournament. The Lady Demons will play FAMU on Friday at 5 p.m. and Alcorn State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Southeastern freshman guard Elizabeth Styles will be Saturday's Spotlight Player of the Game. The first 100 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Savannah, Ga. native courtesy of the Southeastern PRIDE.
 
The Lady Lions will be looking to bounce back from Sunday's 63-54 overtime loss at Louisiana-Lafayette. In the loss, senior guard Kelli Jenkins led Southeastern with 11 points, four assists and three steals to go with a career-high eight rebounds. Junior forward Brandi Simmons led the Lady Lions with 13 rebounds and helped Southeastern finish with a 44-40 rebounding advantage.
 
On the year, Southeastern is averaging 63.7 points per game and hitting 41.2 percent of their field goal attempts. Sophomore forward Aja Gibson is the team's lone player averaging in double figures with 12.1 points per contest and is hitting just under 50 percent of her field goal attempts. Jenkins (9.2 ppg), Simmons (8.3 ppg), freshman guard Symone Miller (6.3 ppg) and senior guard Latoria Holder (6.2 ppg) are the other top scorers for the Lady Lions.
 
Jenkins continues to be the team's top distributor, averaging a team-high 3.3 assists per game. Holder (2.2 apg) and Styles (2.0 apg) follow Jenkins on the team's assist list. With 348 career assists, Jenkins is sixth on the school's career assist list.
 
Southeastern is averaging 38.0 rebounds per game and out-rebounding opponents by 0.6 boards per contest. With four double-digit rebounding performances this season, Simmons tops the squad with 8.4 rebounds per game. Gibson (5.6 rpg) and Holder (4.3 rpg) have also been productive on the glass.
 
Defensively, the Lady Lions are allowing 63.8 points per game and forcing 19.6 turnovers per contest. Holder leads the team with 1.8 steals per game, followed by Styles' 1.6 per game steal average. Freshman forward Hillary Shaffer has been the best rim protector for the Lady Lions, averaging just under a blocked shot per game.
 
Alcorn State heads to Hammond looking for its first win. The Lady Braves have faced a murderous schedule, as their 75-46 loss to Minnesota was the latest in a line of tough non-conference games that have included Texas, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, Rice, SMU and Harvard.
 
ASU is averaging 48.3 points per contest and shooting 29.5 percent from the floor. Senior guard Kiara Ruffin leads the team with 13.9 points per game, while sophomore guard Tierro Frost follows with 9.4 points per game. Junior forward Isis Smith leads the team with 3.1 assists per contest.
 
The Lady Braves are averaging 35.0 rebounds per game, but is being out-rebounded by 13.9 rebounds per contest. Senior forward Sharnika Breedlove leads the team with 7.4 rebounds per outing.
 
Alcorn State is allowing 73.1 points per game and forcing over 21.8 turnovers per contest. Ruffin leads the team with 2.4 steals per game, followed by Smith with 2.0 steals per outing. Tierro Frost has blocked a team-high four shots on the year.
 
Southeastern is 2-1 all-time versus Alcorn State. The last meeting came in 2008-09 with the Lady Lions earning a 74-40 win in Hammond.
 
On Saturday, Southeastern faces a Florida A&M team that is coming off a 77-69 loss at Nicholls State last Friday. In the loss to the Colonels, senior forward Antonia Bennett had 23 points and seven rebounds.
 
Bennett's 19.3 points per game paces a FAMU roster that is averaging 68.8 points per game. Senior post Qiana Donald (12.8 ppg), senior guard Tameka McKelton (12.3 ppg) and sophomore guard Kimberly Sparkman (11.9 ppg) are the other double-digit scorers for the Rattlers. Bennett and Sparkman share the team lead with 2.3 assists per game.
 
Florida A&M is pulling down 43.1 rebounds per outing as a team. The combo of Donald (9.9 rpg) and Bennett (8.6 rpg) are the most productive FAMU players on the glass.
 
Opponents are scoring 70.4 points per game against Florida A&M. Bennett leads the team with 2.3 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game.
 
Southeastern is 0-2 against Florida A&M. The only meetings came during the 1991-92 season with FAMU sweeping the series.
 
Following the tournament, Southeastern will have nearly two weeks off before facing Ole Miss on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. The Lady Lions' game with the Lady Rebels will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net.
 
2011-12 Southeastern Christmas Classic
 
Friday, December 16
Northwestern State vs. Florida A&M, 5 p.m.
Southeastern Louisiana vs. Alcorn State, 7 p.m.
 
Saturday, December 17
Northwestern State vs. Alcorn State, 2 p.m.
Southeastern Louisiana vs. Florida A&M, 4 p.m.