HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana fans will get their first look at the 2016-17 Lady Lion basketball team on Thursday, when SLU hosts Loyola (N.O.) for a 6 p.m. exhibition contest in the University Center.
 
A live video stream of the game between the Lady Lions and the visiting Wolfpack will be available to LionVision subscribers at www.LionSports.net/watch.
 
New faces on and off the court will be representing Southeastern. First-year head coach Errol Gauff will be on the sidelines for the first time on Thursday, along with new assistant coaches Ayla Guzzardo and Kenneth Lee Jr.
 
On court, SLU's roster features seven newcomers – including four true freshman – among its 13 players. The offseason has spent learning Gauff's new system and the Lady Lions will have the first chance to display the fruits of their labor on Thursday.
 
Along with the myriad of new faces, several veterans will also contribute to the Southeastern attack. The Lady Lions' top returner is junior guard Taylin Underwood from Livingston, Louisiana. In 2015-16, the Doyle High School product made a single-season school record 73 three-point field goals on the way to a 13.2 points per game scoring average.
 
Underwood is the lone starter and one of six 2015-16 letter winners returning. Junior guard Bre Warren (4.9 ppg), senior forward Dani Fielder (3.8 ppg), senior forward Chey Stewart (3.2 ppg), sophomore guard Jaclyn Scholvin (1.0 ppg) and sophomore forward Baylie Stears (0.5 ppg.) are also holdovers from last year's roster. Freshman forward Chambria Harrison also returns after a redshirt season in 2015-16.
 
Among the new faces for the Lady Lions are a pair of junior college transfers in sophomore guard Ashailee Brailey (Abbeville, Louisiana/Jones County JC) and junior Tytiana Hall (Crystal Springs, Mississippi/Copiah-Lincoln CC). Four freshman guards – Courtney Dawsey (Hammond, Louisiana./St. Thomas Aquinas HS), Charliee Dugas (Rayne, Louisiana/Rayne HS), Taz Stinson (Hattiesburg, Mississippi/Hattiesburg HS) and Tyler Morrison (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/St. Michael HS) – will also step on the University Center court for the first time as Lady Lions on Thursday.
 
Loyola will also be seeing its first on-court action on Thursday. The Wolfpack return 10 letter winners from last season's team, which finished 23-8 overall. Junior guard Zoie Miller (9.9 ppg), senior forward Meghan Temple (9.6 ppg) and senior guard Kylah Jones (9.5 ppg) are the top returning scorers.
 
Following Thursday's exhibition, Southeastern will officially open up its 2016-17 schedule on the road on Friday, Nov. 11. The Lady Lions will travel to Oxford, Mississippi for a 2 p.m. contest at Ole Miss. The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.