HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana opens up a four-game homestand Saturday as the Lady Lions host Southland Conference front-runner Abilene Christian at 1 p.m. in the University Center.
The game between the Lady Lions (3-17, 2-7) and Wildcats (18-3, 9-1) will be the opener of a doubleheader against Abilene Christian with the Southeastern men scheduled to tip off against the Wildcats at 4 p.m. The doubleheader will be Military Appreciation Day and anyone with a valid military I.D. will receive free admission.
Dani Fielder will be the PRIDE Spotlight Player of the Game. Trading cards featuring the junior forward from Houston, Texas will be distributed to the first 100 fans courtesy of PRIDE.
Southeastern dropped into 13th in the conference with its fifth straight loss, 80-58, at Central Arkansas on Wednesday. The Lady Lions jumped out to a 12-point second-quarter lead and led 31-30 at the half but the Sugar Bears broke the game open with a 36-3 surge in the third quarter.
Southeastern's 58 points were the fourth most allowed this season by Central Arkansas which went in leading the nation in giving up just 48.2 points per game.
Senior guard
KaeLynn Boyd was the lone Lady Lion in double figures with 13 points. She also had six assists. Freshman forward
Kyle Felton, making the first start of her college career, and senior forward
Nanna Pool each had eight points and five rebounds. Senior guard
Peaches Anderson and sophomore guard
Bre Warren also had eight points each.
Abilene Christian, which came into the week ranked 17th in the Mid-Major poll, had a 14-game winning streak snapped with a 63-54 loss at Lamar on Thursday. Junior guard Alexis Mason poured in 30 points for the Wildcats but ACU shot just 26.2 percent overall and had 25 turnovers.
The streak was tied for the fourth longest in the country. The Wildcats' last loss had come at Texas Tech 71-65 back on Dec. 2.
Abilene Christian, still leads the Southland by a half-game over Central Arkansas but is ineligible for the conference tournament while transitioning into Division I.
Southeastern goes into Saturday's contest averaging 62.5 points per game while allowing 81.7. Pool is fourth in the league in rebounding (8.0 rpg), 12th in scoring (14.0 ppg), third in field goal percentage (.496) and tied for fifth in blocks (1.1 bpg). Sophomore guard
Taylin Underwood is 13th in scoring with 13.9 points per game while ranking fourth in 3-pointers made (2.7 per game). She also has a team-high 32 steals.
Boyd (12.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 59 assists, 23 steals), senior guard
Erica Hernandez (7.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 29 assists, 10 steals) and Felton (3.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) round out the Lady Lions' starting five.
Southeastern will be taking on an Abilene Christian squad that ranks in the top five in the Southland in nearly every statistical category. The Wildcats lead the conference in scoring (76.6 ppg), scoring margin (plus-15.7), field goal percentage (.422), assists (15.3 apg), blocked shots (4.1 bpg), defensive rebounds (26.7), 3-pointers made (7.9 per game) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.293). ACU is also second in scoring defense (60.9 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.363), rebounds (42.0 rpg) and rebounding margin (plus-4.6).
Mason received Southland Conference Player of the Week three straight weeks in January and averaged 19.9 points for the month. She is third in the league in scoring (17.3 ppg) and tied for first in 3-pointers made (2.9 per game).
Junior forward Sydney Shelstead is eighth in the SLC with 14.5 points per game while also ranking fifth in field goal percentage (.479), sixth in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and eighth in blocks (1.0 ppg).
Senior guard Whitney West Swinford is averaging 11.1 points per game. Junior forward Suzzy Dimba leads the team and is third in the league with 2.5 steals per game and ranks 10th with 2.8 assists per game while averaging 10.1 points. Junior forward Lizzy Dimba is the leading rebounder for the Wildcats, ranking fifth in the conference with 7.9 a game, including a second-best 3.3 offensive boards, She is also 10th in steals (1.7 spg).
Mason, Shelstead, Swinford and the Dimbas have started all 21 games for Abilene Christian.
Head coach Julie Goodenough is in her fourth season at Abilene Christian where she is 74-34. She is 363-254 in 22 seasons overall.
Southeastern and Abilene Christian will be meeting for the fifth time with the Wildcats holding a 3-1 series lead. The Lady Lions are scheduled to travel to Abilene on Feb. 21.
