HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana sophomore guard Ashailee Brailey and junior guard Taylin Underwood shared game-high honors with 21 points each to lead the Lady Lions to a 69-58 Southland Conference victory over Northwestern State in women's basketball action Wednesday evening in the University Center.
 
The Lady Lions (4-15, 2-6 Southland) snapped a four-game losing streak with Wednesday's victory. SLU outscored Northwestern State (9-10, 3-5 Southland), 46-26, after halftime.
 
Southeastern forced the Lady Demons into 25 turnovers and scored 23 points off those miscues. One of the areas the Lady Lions have struggled this season has been on the boards, but Wednesday saw Southeastern end a 13-game string of losing the rebounding battle, finishing even on the boards, 43-43.
 
"Our defensive effort was the difference tonight," Southeastern head coach Errol Gauff said. "We were able to create some opportunities for ourselves with our pressure and I'm just very proud of our dedication on the defensive end tonight."
 
Gauff was quick to offer praise to offer several individuals for their efforts in the victory.
 
"Ashailee and (junior guard) Bre (Warren) his some big three's for us tonight," Gauff said. "We were really pleased with Taylin's ability and willingness to continually get to free throw line was also huge. (Freshman forward) Chambria (Harrison) was also a key factor with her rebounding."
 
Brailey and Underwood's scoring performances marked the first time this season multiple Lady Lions have scored 20-plus points in the same game. Brailey was a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc, while Underwood posted her team-high ninth game with 20 or more points this season and led SLU with four assists.
 
Underwood made three treys of her own, giving her 141 in her career and moving her past former Lady Lion Shanna Achord (2000-04) for third on the school's career list.
 
Harrison came off the bench and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Lady Lions. Freshman guard Charliee Dugas joined Underwood and Brailey in double figures with 10 points and led the SLU defensive effort with four steals.
 
Cheyenne Brown led NSU with 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Beatrice Attura shared team-high scoring honors with 16 points to go with a game-high seven assists.
 
The first half was the tale of two quarters, as NSU took a 21-19 lead after a back-and-forth opening period. SLU went ice cold in the second quarter, making just one field goal and scoring four points in the period. However, the Lady Lions held the Lady Demons to just 11 points and went into the halftime break down just nine at 32-23.
 
Southeastern bounced back by playing its best quarter of the season after halftime. The Lady Lions held NSU without a field goal in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Demons, 24-8 in the period to take a 47-40 advantage into the final quarter.
 
Brailey and Warren hit consecutive three-point field goals to open the fourth quarter and push the Southeastern lead to double digits. Northwestern State would get no closer than six over the final 10 minutes, as SLU earned its first victory over the Lady Demons in its four tries.
 
Southeastern will be back on the road on Saturday, traveling to Sam Houston State for a 4 p.m. Southland Conference contest in Huntsville, Texas. 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. The originally scheduled broadcast on ESPN3 has been cancelled.