GRAMBLING, La. – Southeastern Louisiana finished with a dominant 58-36 rebounding advantage but could not overcome 30 turnovers in a 61-52 loss at Grambling in non-conference women's basketball action Thursday evening atFredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
The Lady Lions (1-6) fell behind by 19 points in the third quarter and were not able to full rally against the host Tigers (3-3). Grambling offset SLU's 20-3 advantage on second chance points by scoring 27 points off Southeastern turnovers.
Senior guard Taylin Underwood led Southeastern with 18 points and was the lone Lady Lion in double figures. Junior guard Jaclyn Scholvin and sophomore guard Charliee Dugas added eight points apiece off the bench, while sophomore guard Tyler Morrison chipped in with seven points.
Freshman forward Caitlyn Williams led the Lady Lions' season-best rebounding output with 11 rebounds. Underwood narrowly missed a double-double with a season-high nine rebounds, while Dugas grabbed seven boards off the bench. Sophomore guard Courtney Dawsey and freshman forward Morgan Carrier led SLU with two assists each, while Caitlyn Williams had a team-high two steals.
Junior guard Jazmin Boyd led Grambling with 18 points. Boyd was joined in double figures by sophomore guard Deja McKinney (13 points) and senior guard Monisha Neal (10 points). Junior guard Shakyla Hill added eight points and finished with seven of Grambling's 16 steals.
Southeastern held a slight one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, as Underwood ended the period by netting a 50-foot heave to put SLU ahead, 11-10. Grambling battled back and held a slight 24-23 lead after an opening half that featured three ties and seven lead changes.
Grambling held a 29-25 lead after an Underwood layup with 7:10 left in the third quarter. Over the next five minutes, Grambling held SLU without a field goal during a 17-2 run that allowed the Lady Tigers to take a commanding 46-27 advantage with 2:31 left in the period.
Southeastern would not go away, quietly, as the quintet of Dawsey, Scholvin, Dugas, junior guard Ashailee Brailey and junior forward Kyla Williams would go on an 11-0 run that cut the GSU lead to 46-38 on a Dugas bucket with 7:14 left in the game.
That would be as close as Southeastern would get, however. GSU scored the next two baskets to push the lead back to 12 and the Lady Lions would only cut the deficit back to eight in the final minute.
Thursday's game was the last for the Lady Lions during the fall semester, as SLU will now take time off to concentrate on final exams. Following Thursday's game, Southeastern will be off until a 2 p.m. contest on Dec. 10 at TCU. The final game of SLU's seven-game road swing will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest. The SLU-TCU contest can also be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.
