Game Notes

HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team returns to action on Thursday, facing Southland Conference foe Central Arkansas at 5:30 p.m. in the Farris Center.
 
The Lady Lions (8-11, 1-7 Southland) and the host Sugar Bears (13-6, 6-2 Southland) will open doubleheader action on Thursday, with the two school's men's teams meeting at 7:30 p.m. The games will be the Toyota Games of the Week and air live on ESPN3. The games will also be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and www.LionSports.net.
 
Southeastern snapped an eight-game losing streak on Saturday with a 66-54 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – the team's first league victory of the season. All five Southeastern starters scored in double figures for the Lady Lions in the triumph.
 
Sophomore guard Symone Miller led Southeastern with 14 points and was joined in double figures by senior forward Brandi Simmons (12 points), junior forward Aja Gibson (11 points), sophomore guard Elizabeth Styles (11 points) and junior guard Jameika Hoskins (10 points). Hoskins also led the Lady Lions with a season-high nine rebounds and three steals, while Styles dished out a team-high five assists.
 
The Lady Lions are averaging 63.1 points per game – good for seventh in the Southland – heading into Thursday 's contest. Gibson leads the team and ranks 13^th in the Southland with 11.5 points per game. The Somerville, Tenn. native is joined among the league's leading scorers by teammates Simmons (10.2, 16^th), Hoskins (8.5 ppg, 23^rd) and Styles (8.3 ppg, 25^th). Styles is also the team's top distributor and is fourth in the Southland with 4.5 assists per game.
 
While ranking in the bottom half of the league in scoring offense, Southeastern is fourth in the league with a 40.2 team field goal percentage. The post trio of freshman center Nanna Pool (51.3, 5^th), Simmons (50.3, 7^th) and Gibson (46.5, 10^th) are all among the Southland's most accurate shooters. Styles ranks sixth in the league with a team-best 80.4 free throw percentage, while Gibson (69.7) sits in 14^th.
 
Southeastern has been consistently productive on the glass and ranks third in the Southland with a plus-3.6 rebounding margin. Simmons leads the team and ranks third in the league with 8.9 rebounds per game, while also pacing the squad with seven double-doubles. Pool is the team's other top performer on the boards, coming off the bench to rank 17^th in the league with 5.5 rebounds per game.
 
The Lady Lions are allowing a league-high 69.4 points per game, while forcing opponents into 17.9 turnovers per contest. Simmons and Hoskins share the team lead with 21 steals each while ranking one-two in blocked shots with nine and eight, respectively.
 
Central Arkansas sits in sole possession of second place in the Southland Conference standings after Saturday's 67-62 overtime win over Lamar. In the win over the Lady Cardinals, senior forward Megan Herbert (18 points, 16 rebounds) and junior center Courtney Duever (18 points, 15 rebounds) propelled the Sugar Bears to victory with double-double efforts.
 
Herbert, the two-time reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year, is one of two active Division I players – Baylor star Brittney Griner the other – to record 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. She teams with Duever to provide UCA with the league's top post tandem. Herbert is second in the league with 18.4 points per game, while Duever (13.4 ppg) sits in eighth for a Sugar Bear squad that is averaging 64.3 points per outing. Senior guard Tracey Parsons is the team's top playmaker, averaging a team-high 3.3 assists per game.
 
Behind Herbert and Duever, Central Arkansas is the league's top rebounding team, entering Thursday's game with a plus-8.9 rebounding margin. Herbert is second in the league with 11.4 rebounds and is one of two players in the Southland averaging a double-double, along with Sam Houston State senior forward Sequeena Thomas. Duever provides a nice compliment to Herbert and is fourth in the Southland with 8.8 rebounds per game.
 
The Sugar Bear defense has been key to the team's success in 2012-13. UCA is allowing opponents 51.9 points per game and a 35.5 field goal percentage, while forcing 17.0 turnovers per contest. Parsons leads the team with 32 steals, while Duever has blocked a team-high 17 blocked shots.
 
Southeastern is 6-8 all-time versus Central Arkansas and is looking to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Sugar Bears. In a 76-60 win over the Lady Lions on Jan. 5 in Hammond, UCA senior forward Britney Gowans scored a game-high 23 points and hit five of six three-point field goal attempts. Herbert added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, as UCA finished with five players in double figures. Gibson and Hoskins reached double figures for Southeastern in the losing effort, finishing with 11 and  10 points, respectively.
 
Thursday's game is the first of three straight on the road for the Lady Lions, who will travel to Oral Roberts on Saturday for a 5 p.m. game in Tulsa, Okla. The game will air live on KSLU-FM (90.9) and LionSports.net.