Box Score
THIBODAUX – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will compete in the State Farm Southland Conference Tournament next week thanks to a 77-66 road win over Nicholls in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gymnasium.
The Lady Lions (13-15, 5-11 Southland) entered the final day of the regular season needing a win over the Colonels (8-21, 3-13 Southland) and a UT Arlington loss. Moments after Southeastern played its part, UTSA completed a 77-53 win over UTA to punch the Lady Lions' postseason ticket.
Southeastern will now make its third straight trip to the league tournament. The eighth seed in the tournament, the Lady Lions will face top seeded McNeese State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Should the Lady Lions advance, they will play on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in the semifinals. Friday's championship game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
The Lady Lions hit a season-high 60.4 percent (32-for-53) of their field goal attempts, including a 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from behind the arc. Senior center
Rachel Mackie led the Lady Lions with 14 points and was joined in double figures by senior forward
Rashima Jenkins (12 points) and junior guard
Latoria Holder (11 points). Jenkins also led the Lady Lions with eight rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
Holder and senior
Mary Fountain keyed Southeastern's defensive efforts. Holder finished with a team-high three steals, while Fountain matched a career-high with three blocked shots.
“This was a great team effort today,” Southeastern head coach
Lori Davis Jones commented. “We were sluggish in the first half and couldn't get into the flow. We did a much better job of taking care of the ball in the second half and also turned up our defensive intensity.
“Our goal every year is to win the Southland Conference Tournament and represent our league in the NCAA Tournament,” Jones continued. “We had to battle our way in, but now we have a chance to reach our goal. Playing McNeese State again after just playing them Wednesday will be a challenge, but we're looking forward to representing our university.”
Nicholls held a 38-35 halftime lead, but Southeastern took the lead for good on a three-pointer by senior guard
Chelsea Hix two minutes into the second period. The Lady Lions outscored Nicholls, 42-28, in the second half and the lead grew to as much as 16 down the stretch.
Playing in her final career game, Nicholls senior guard Ricshanda Bickham led four Colonels in double figures with 17 points. Bickham, who also led NSU with six rebounds, four assists and seven steals, was joined in double figures by Alisha Allen (13 points), Cassie Hearon (12 points) and KK Babin (10 points).
All of the Lady Lions' Southland Conference Tournament games will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net. A live video stream will also be available at www.Southland.org. The final two rounds of the tournament will be televised on the Southland Television Network.
