HAMMOND, La. – A 29-0 first-half run was too much for Southeastern Louisiana to overcome in a 78-64 loss to Southland Conference leader Central Arkansas in the Lady Lions' 2016-17 women's basketball home finale Wednesday night at the University Center.
Southeastern (5-22, 3-13 Southland) outscored the visiting Sugar Bears (22-4, 14-2 Southland), 44-29, after halftime. But it was not enough to overcome a 29-point halftime deficit, as UCA extended its winning streak to 13 games.
Returning after missing the last two games, freshman guard
Charliee Dugas led SLU with 19 points and made 4-of-4 three-point field goals. Junior guard
Taylin Underwood added 16 points and will head into the final week of the regular season needing 11 points to become the 20
th student-athlete in school history with 1,000 career points.
Junior guard
Bre Warren added 12 points to give SLU a trio in double figures. Freshman guard
Tyler Morrison led the Lady Lions with a game-high eight rebounds, while Underwood dished out a team-high three assists. Sophomore guard
Jaclyn Scholvin led Southeastern with three steals.
UCA blistered the nets in the first half, shooting 59.4 percent (19-for-32) from the floor to build the insurmountable advantage. Kierra Jordan led the Sugar Bears with 20 points and seven rebounds. Jordan was joined in double figures by Maggie Proffitt (17 points) and Taylor Baudoin (12 points).
Neither team could gain a clear advantage early on with the Sugar Bears starting to pull away midway through the first quarter. A three by Dugas cut the UCA lead to 20-15 with 3:04 left in the first quarter.
Unfortunately for SLU, Dugas' triple would be the last points scored by Southeastern for a stretch of 11:10. A pair of free throws by Scholvin ended the scoring drought with 1:54 left in the second quarter, but at that point the Sugar Bears had built a 34-point lead. The Lady Lions didn't make a field goal in the second quarter and went into halftime facing a 49-20 deficit.
Southeastern and UCA would play to a standstill in the third quarter, as SLU trailed 66-37 heading into the fourth quarter. The Lady Lions were dominant in the final period, shooting 57.1 percent (8-for-14) in the fourth quarter. Southeastern outscored the league leaders, 27-12, over the final 10 minutes to lessen the final margin to 14.
Southeastern will head to Nicholls for a 1 p.m. Southland Conference matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Thibodaux, Louisiana. 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.
