Southeastern Louisiana (6-7, 1-1 SLC) vs. Abilene Christian (10-4, 3-0 SLC)
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019 | 1 p.m. | Hammond, La. | University Center (7,500)
Series History: ACU leads 7-2
Last Meeting: Southeastern Louisiana 78, Abilene Christian 76 (2/17/18 – Hammond, La.)
Television: None
Radio: KSLU-FM (90.9)
         Announcer: Chris Salim
Live Video
Live Audio
Live Stats
        
HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will close out a three-game home stand to open Southland Conference play on Saturday, hosting Abilene Christian at 1 p.m. in the University Center.
 
The contest between the Lady Lions (6-7, 1-1 Southland) and the visiting Wildcats (10-4, 3-0 Southland) will be the first of two league contests in the University Center on Saturday. The SLU and ACU men's teams will match up in the nightcap at 4 p.m.
 
Exclusively for the women's game, Southeastern Athletics will sponsor the Dads and Daughters Day. Any father and daughter attending the game together can get two tickets for $10.
 
Saturday's Spotlight Player of the Game is Rhomiya Tate. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Tickfaw, Louisiana native courtesy of PRIDE.
 
Southeastern is coming off a 62-53 victory over Central Arkansas last Saturday, while the visitors have won three straight to open league play, including a 109-52 home win over McNeese on Wednesday.
 
In the win over UCA, Celica Sterling paced SLU with 20 points, while Jaclyn Scholvin added 13 points and a game-high five assists. Caitlyn Williams gave the Lady Lions a trio in double figures, posting her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Lady Lion offense, led by Sterling and her team-high 16.0 points per game, is averaging 54.9 points per game and will be tasked with keeping up with a potent Wildcat attack. ACU is scoring 76.7 points per game, as Dominique Golightly (14.0 ppg), Sara Williamson (13.1 ppg) and Breanna Wright (12.8 ppg) make up one of the league's most prolific scoring trios.
 
Abilene Christian also leads the league in assists, as Williamson (4.8 apg, 2^nd) and Wright (4.7 apg, 4^th) rank among the league's best. SLU features two of the Southland's top playmakers as well, as Scholvin (3.7 apg, 7^th) and Tyler Morrison (3.1 apg, 11^th) are also on the conference assist leaderboard.
 
The Lady Lion defense, which has improved steadily through the season's first two months, will have one of its toughest tests versus the explosive Wildcats. SLU has been up to the task through 13 games, yielding 60.1 points and forcing 18.8 turnovers per outing. Scholvin ranks among the league leaders with 2.1 steals per game.
 
Southeastern will also need to work hard on the boards versus an ACU team that enters Saturday's contest with a plus-8.4 rebounding margin. Williams, who comes into the game ranked sixth in the league with 6.8 rebounds per contest, will be dueling with ACU's top rebounding duo of Makayla Mabry (6.4 rpg) and Lexie Ducat (6.3 rpg).
 
Southeastern is 2-7 all-time versus Abilene Christian, one of the newest additions to the Southland Conference. Saturday will be the first of two meetings between the two schools, as SLU returns the trip to Abilene on Feb. 23. Last season, the two teams split the season series, with each protecting their respective home courts.
 
Following Saturday's game, the Lady Lions will open up the road portion of their league schedule on Wednesday. SLU will travel to Beaumont, Texas to face defending Southland regular season champion Lamar at 7 p.m. in the Montagne Center.
 
The SLU-LU contest can be heard live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the Lions Game Day Experience, Radio FX and TuneIn Radio apps.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
For ticket information on the Southeastern women's basketball season, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.lionsports.net/tickets.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Women's Basketball, follow @SoutheasternWBB on Twitter, like /SoutheasternWBB on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.