CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana freshman guard Charliee Dugas finished with a game-high 22 points and six steals, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's 52-21 rebounding advantage was too much for the Lady Lions to overcome in a 77-61 loss to the Islanders in Southland Conference women's basketball action Wednesday night at the Dugan Wellness Center.
 
Southeastern fell to 3-13 overall and 1-4 in league action, despite forcing the Islanders into 30 turnovers and finishing the game with a season-high 16 steals. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (6-10, 2-3 Southland) earned the win behind their dominance on the glass, an aggressive trapping defense and four players in double figures.
 
SLU led by as many as nine in the opening quarter and finished the opening period with a 16-11 lead. However, the Islanders outscored Southeastern, 46-26, over the next two quarters to take a 57-42 lead into the final quarter. The lead would grow to as many as 20 in the final quarter after SLU briefly cut the lead down to 10.
 
"The game changed when they switched up their defense to start the second quarter," Southeastern head coach Errol Gauff said. "Give (A&M-Corpus Christi head) Coach (Royce) Chadwick a lot of credit for the switch and kudos to his team for playing with a lot of energy in that defense.
 
"We wanted to control the tempo and we were able to do that in the first quarter," Gauff added. "But when they switched defenses, we started taking shots they wanted us to take, instead of shots we wanted to take. We got out of rhythm and never could get it back going. I'm happy that our team kept fighting, but this is a loss where our youth showed. Young teams have to learn some lessons as they continue to improve and we'll have to learn from this loss."
 
Dugas was one of two Lady Lions in double figures, as senior forward Chey Stewart made all five of her field goal attempts on the way to a 10-point performance. Sophomore guard Jaclyn Scholvin added nine off the bench, while junior guard Taylin Underwood finished with eight.
 
Underwood and junior guard Bre Warren shared game-high honors with four assists apiece. Stewart and Underwood each were credited with a team-high five rebounds.
 
Dugas' steal total was the most by a Lady Lion this season. Underwood added four steals for SLU, while Warren was credited with three.
 
Emma Young led four Islanders in double figures with 17 points. Brittany Mbamalu notched a double-double for the Islanders with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Dae Dae Evans (13 points) and Tiara Matthews (10 points) were Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's top scorers off the bench.
 
Southeastern will return home on Sunday to host McNeese for a 1 p.m. Southland Conference contest. The game can be heard live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video stream of Sunday's game at www.LionSports.net/watch.
 
Freshman forward Chambria Harrison will be Sunday's Spotlight Player of the Game. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Vidalia, Georgia native courtesy of PRIDE.
 
Sunday will also feature a Cane's Challenge. If the Lady Lions score 50 points or more, fans can take their game tickets or student coupons to either Hammond Raising Cane's by the close of business on Monday to receive a free combo with the purchase of another of equal or greater value.