Game Notes
                                                                  
HAMMOND – In-state foe Nicholls State will visit the University Center on Saturday, facing Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference women's basketball action at 2 p.m.
 
The Lady Lions (7-7, 0-3 Southland) will be looking for their first league win of the year when the Lady Colonels (10-4, 2-1 Southland) come to town. The game will open up a doubleheader in the UC, as Southeastern and Nicholls will meet in men's basketball action at 4 p.m. All of the day's action will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and www.LionSports.net, where live stats and video will also be available.
 
Freshmen Raven Reyes and Erica Hernandez will be Saturday's Spotlight Players of the Game. Trading cards featuring the Texas natives will be distributed as available, courtesy of PRIDE. Saturday's game is also dedicated to EB Awareness. Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a rare genetic skin disease that causes the skin to be so fragile that the slightest friction can cause severe blistering—inside and outside the body. Today there is no cure. Severe forms of EB cause patients to live with constant pain and scarring. The worst forms of EB lead to eventual disfigurement, disability and often early death.
 
Southeastern opened the road portion of its league schedule on Monday at Lamar. The Lady Lions could not overcome 32 turnovers in a 58-49 loss to the Lady Cardinals.
 
In the loss, senior forward Brandi Simmons led Southeastern with 14 points and eight rebounds. Junior forward Aja Gibson joined Simmons in double figures, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Elizabeth Styles led Southeastern with four assists.
 
The Lady Lions finished the game with a 48-37 rebounding advantage over Lamar. In addition to the work of Simmons and Gibson, freshman forward Nanna Pool grabbed eight rebounds in the loss.
 
Southeastern is led in scoring by Gibson, who is one of two Lady Lions averaging in double figures with 11.4 points per game. Simmons joins Gibson with her 10.4 point per game average. Pool (8.6 ppg), junior guard Jameika Hoskins (8.3 ppg), Styles (8.1 ppg) and sophomore guard Symone Miller (7.1 ppg) are the other top scorers.
 
Styles also leads the team with 3.8 assists per contest. Pool paces the squad with a 53.8 field goal percentage, while Miller has connected on a team-high 41.2 percent of her three-point field goal attempts. Styles (80.0) and Gibson (71.1) are two of the most accurate free throw shooters in the Southland.
 
The Lady Lions have out-rebounded opponents by an average of 3.5 boards per outing. Simmons is third in the Southland with 9.3 rebounds per game, while Pool (5.8 rpg) and Gibson (5.1 rpg) have also been effective on the glass.
 
Opponents are scoring 70.9 points and committing 19.0 turnovers per contest versus Southeastern. Styles leads the team with 17 steals, while Simmons has blocked a team-high eight shots.
 
The Lady Lion defense will be tested against a talented Nicholls roster. The Lady Colonels will come to Hammond riding high after a 78-61 road win over two-time defending league tournament champion McNeese State on Monday.
 
Nicholls was able to earn the convincing win over the Cowgirls thanks to 51.9 percent (28-for-54) shooting from the field and a balanced offensive attack. Freshman guard Emani White came off the bench to lead six Lady Colonels in double figures with 17 points.
 
White was joined in double figures by junior guard KK Babin (14 points), senior forward Alisha Allen (13 points), junior forward Jasmine Scott (12 points), junior forward LiAnn McCarthy (11 points) and sophomore guard Jenny Nash (11 points). Babin also led the way with a game-high six assists.
 
Allen is the team's top scorer with 14.5 points per game, while Babin joins her in double figures with 12.4 points per contest. McCarthy (8.8 ppg), White (8.7 ppg), Nash (7.9 ppg) and Scott (7.5 ppg) are the other top scorers for NSU. Babin leads the team with 4.6 assists per game.
 
Scott is the team's leading rebounder with 5.9 rebounds per contest. Allen's 5.4 rebounds per outing is second on the team and Nicholls enters the contest with a slight +0.4 rebounding margin.
 
Opponents are scoring 62.7 points per game against the Lady Colonels, who are forcing 19.5 turnovers per contest. Scott (26), Babin (24) and Nash (22) are the team's steal leaders, while Allen is averaging just over a block per contest.
 
Southeastern is 55-14 all-time versus Nicholls. The two teams split last season with each winning on their own home court. The Lady Lions edged Nicholls, 73-72, last season in Hammond, behind 21 points from then-senior guard Jessica Sommers.
 
Following Saturday's contest, Southeastern will hit the road to face Stephen F. Austin on  Thursday at 6 p.m. in Nacogdoches, Texas. The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and LionSports.net.