HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will be back in action this week, competing in a pair of Southland Conference road contests.
The Lady Lions (6-14, 5-3 Southland) will open the week versus Southland Conference leader Central Arkansas (13-7, 7-2 Southland) in a 5:30 p.m. contest on Thursday in Conway, Ark. LionVision subscribers will be able to access UCA's live video stream at LionSports.net. On Saturday, Southeastern heads to Tulsa, Okla. to face Oral Roberts (5-14, 4-5 Southland) in a 4 p.m. contest.
Southeastern returns to the road after winning two games in a row for the first time this season. On Thursday, the Lady Lions rolled past UNO for an 84-55 league victory.
In the win over the Privateers, Southeastern had a season-high five players score in double figures. Sophomore forward
Nanna Pool posted her seventh double-double of the season, finishing with game-high totals of 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Pool was joined in double figures by junior guard
Symone Miller (17 points), junior guard
Annessa De La Cruz (17 points), junior guard
Elizabeth Styles (15 points) and sophomore guard
Erica Hernandez (10 points). Styles also chipped in a game-high seven assists and a career-high five steals.
Southeastern heads into the week averaging 65.6 points per game. Miller leads the team with 14.1 points per game, followed by senior forward
Aja Gibson (12.7 ppg), Pool (12.3 ppg) and Styles (11.8 ppg). Pool currently leads the Southland and ranks third in the nation with a 62.3 field goal percentage, while Styles tops the team with 4.9 assists per contest.
The Lady Lions have been slightly outrebounded this season, but feature the league's best rebounding tandem. Pool is second in the Southland with 9.9 rebounds per contest – including a league-best 11.0 boards per contest in Southland games – and Gibson is eighth on the league ledger with 7.8 rebounds per contest.
Opponents are scoring 77.4 points and committing 14.6 turnovers per contest versus the Lady Lions. Gibson is currently sixth in the Southland with 1.2 blocked shots per game. Styles paces the team with 1.8 steals per outing.
Gibson and Styles are both climbing up several of the school's career lists. Gibson is among the program's all-time leaders in scoring (1,116 points, 11
th), rebounding (619 rebounds, 8
th) and blocked shots (65, 8
th), while Styles' 255 career assists are good for 10
th on the program's career list.
UCA enters the week with a half-game lead in the league standings after falling to Nicholls State on Saturday, 69-60. Senior center Courtney Duever leads the team with 14.5 points per game and is joined in double figures by the freshman backcourt tandem of Brianna Mullins (10.7 ppg) and Maggie Proffitt (10.4 ppg). Duever also paces the Sugar Bears with 9.2 rebounds per game, while senior guard Micah Rice has dished out a team-high 3.3 assists per contest.
The two teams split the two meetings a season ago. Both teams won on their opponents' home floor.
Oral Roberts, which hosts UNO on Thursday, is led by senior guard Christian Key's 13.8 points per game. Senior center Sarah Shelton has grabbed a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game, while Key has dished out 3.1 assists per game.
Oral Roberts swept the season series from the Lady Lions in 2012-13. The Golden Eagles will return to the Summit League following the 2013-14 campaign.
Following the road trip, Southeastern will return home to host McNeese State on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at LionSports.net, where LionVision subscribers can access a live video stream. Pool will be Thursday's Spotlight Player of the Game and the first 100 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Magnolia, Miss. native courtesy of the Southeastern PRIDE.
