AKRON, Ohio – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will close out its trip to Ohio by competing in the Akron Classic on Friday and Saturday at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The Lady Lions (0-3) will face host Akron (0-1) on Friday at 6:30 p.m., before completing the tournament with an 11 a.m. contest versus Kent State (2-0) on Saturday. Both times are Central.
Friday's game will be televised on ESPN3. Live audio and live stats, provided by Akron and Kent State (Saturday – audio) will be accessible via the women's basketball schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
The tournament will be a homecoming for two members of the Southeastern coaching staff. Head coach
Ayla Guzzardo played her final two collegiate seasons with the Zips before spending four years as an assistant coach on Akron head coach Jodi Kest's staff.
First-year SLU assistant
Chelsie Butler spent the previous two seasons as a graduate manager for the Zips.
Southeastern will be looking to bounce back from an 82-43 loss at Cincinnati on Wednesday. The Lady Lions were not able to overcome hot-shooting by the host Bearcats (30-for-49), nor struggles on the offensive end (12-57 FG, 22 turnovers). Freshman forward Caitlyn Williams led SLU with 11 points and seven rebounds in the loss.
Senior guard
Taylin Underwood leads Southeastern with 20.0 points per game. The Livingston, Louisiana native is 13
th on the school's career list with 1,101 career points and needs seven three-point field goals to become the program's career leader in that category.
Caitlyn Williams (12.0 ppg), sophomore guard
Charliee Dugas (8.0 ppg) and junior guard
Ashailee Brailey (6.7 ppg) are the other top scorers for the Lady Lions. Caitlyn Williams paces the roster with 7.7 rebounds per game, followed by Underwood (5.0 rpg) and junior forward Kyla Williams (4.7 rpg). Brailey leads the team with 3.0 assists per game, while sophomore guard
Tyler Morrison tops the roster with 2.7 steals per contest.
Akron opened the season with a 63-52 loss at Bucknell on Sunday. Junior guard Megan Sefcik led the Zips with 19 points, while sophomore forward Haliegh Reinoehl (nine rebounds) and sophomore guard Shaunay Edmonds (five assists) were the other top performers for Akron.
In the loss, Bucknell held the visiting Zips to 27.1 percent (19-for-70) shooting from the floor. The Bison also were propelled to the victory thanks to a 51-29 rebounding margin.
Friday's contest will be the second meeting all-time between the two teams. Akron won the previous matchup, 74-58, in the 1999-00 Ruston Classic hosted by Louisiana Tech.
Kent State will open the tournament with a 4 p.m. (Central) game versus Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. The Golden Flashes have earned road wins over Northern Kentucky (59-54) and Youngstown State (55-44) to open the 2017-18 season.
Senior forward Jordan Korinek leads KSU with 19.5 points per game and is joined in double figures by junior guard Alexa Golden (10.0 ppg). Graduate forward McKenna Stephens leads Kent State with 7.5 rebounds per contest, while senior guard Naddiyah Cross has a team-high 4.0 assists per game. Saturday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Following the contests, Southeastern will have a week off before traveling to Bethune-Cookman for a 2 p.m. (Central) contest on Nov. 26 in Daytona Beach, Florida. The SLU-BCU contest 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.
2017-18 Akron Classic – James A. Rhodes Arena – Akron, Ohio
Friday, November 17
Kent State vs. Florida Gulf Coast, 4 p.m.
Southeastern Louisiana at Akron, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 18
Southeastern Louisiana vs. Kent State, 11 a.m.
Florida Gulf Coast at Akron, 1:30 p.m.
All times are Central
