BATON ROUGE, La. – Southeastern Louisiana outscored host LSU, 23-12, in the final quarter to close the final margin to 62-52 in nonconference women's basketball action Wednesday night in Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
 
Southeastern (0-4) was unable to overcome a nearly 10-minute scoreless drought covering portions of the second and third quarters in the loss to the Tigers (4-1). SLU forced 19 turnovers, while only committing a season-low 11 of its own, but ultimately the 15 unanswered points were too big of a hill to climb for the Lady Lions.
 
"We showed a lot of fight tonight," Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo said. "We played hard for 40 minutes, even when our shots weren't falling. We've shown a lot of improvement since the season opener and we want to continue to keep pushing forward."
 
Jyar Francis led SLU with 17 points off the bench, while Alexius Horne had her best all-around game as a Lady Lion, playing in her hometown. Horne joined Francis in double figures with 14 points, while also dishing out a game-high seven assists.
 
Horne and Aminat Jubril also shared team-high honors with six rebounds. Celica Sterling paced the defensive effort with four steals for SLU, while Horne was credited with three.
 
Ayana Mitchell led LSU with a double-double effort of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Awa Trasi and Faustine Aifuwa chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Khayla Pointer and Jaelyn Richard-Harris with four assists each.
 
Southeastern shook off an 8-0 LSU run to open the game, as Horne opened the game with the hot hand. A three by Morgan Carrier knotted the score at 12-12 with 3:04 remaining in the opening quarter. The Tigers answered with an 8-2 close to the period to go into the second quarter with a 20-14 advantage.
 
LSU scored the first four points of the second quarter to stretch the lead to 24-14 two possessions into the period. SLU again battled back, as a strong take by Francis, a trey by Sterling and a Horne free throw cut the lead to 24-20 with 7:12 left in the half.
 
Unfortunately for Southeastern, Horne's freebie was the last time the Lady Lions would score for the remainder of the half. LSU scored the final 11 points of the half to go into the break with a 35-20 cushion.
 
The scoreless drought would not end until Jubril netted a free throw with 7:51 left in the third quarter and by that time the hosts had built a 39-21 advantage. The Tigers would grow the lead to as many as 23 in the period and went into the final quarter trailing, 50-29.
 
The Lady Lions refused to lay down in the final quarter. Trailing 59-39 with 5:54 remaining, Southeastern went on a 11-1 run to put a scare into the Tigers. Horne sliced to the hoop to cut the advantage to 60-50 with 2:47 left.
 
However, both teams went cold offensively down the stretch and Southeastern would pull no closer.
 
Up Next
Southeastern will conclude its season-opening road swing at ULM on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/live and via the TuneIn Radio and Lions Game Day Experience apps.
 
Southeastern Louisiana 52 (0-4)
Williams 4-5 0-0 8, Jubril 0-3 3-4 3, Sterling 1-11 2-2 5, Morrison 0-1 0-0 0, Horne 4-14 6-11 14, Dugas 1-1 0-0 2, Francis 7-16 0-0 17, Carrier 1-1 0-0 3, Rivers 0-1 0-0 0, Ducksworth 0-0 0-0 0, Huderson 0-0 0-0 0, Harvey 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Giaratano 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-53 11-17 52.
LSU 62 (4-1)
Mitchell 4-5 6-9 14, Aifuwa 4-6 2-5 10, Pointer 2-5 1-2 5, Richard-Harris 1-3 2-2 4, Seay 3-7 0-2 6, Cherry 2-4 0-0 4, Brooks 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 0-2 0, Yougn 1-4 0-0 2, Trasi 4-5 0-0 11, Ashman 2-4 0-0 5, Spencer 0-1 1-2 1, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Ward 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 12-24 62.
End of 1^st Quarter – LSU 20, SLU 14. Halftime – LSU 35, SLU 20. End of 3^rd Quarter – LSU 50, SLU 29. 3-point goals – SLU 5-18 (Francis 3-10, Sterling 1-7, Carrier 1-1), LSU 4-11 (Trasi 3-4, Ashman 1-2, Pointer 0-1, Richard-Harris 0-1, Cherry 0-1, Brooks 0-1, Young 0-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – Williams. Rebounds – SLU 28 (Jubril, Horne 6), LSU 40 (Mitchell 13). Assists – SLU 10 (Horne 7), LSU 13 (Pointer, Richard-Harris 4). Total Fouls – SLU 21, LSU 16. A – 823.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
For ticket information on the upcoming 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 @LionUpWBB 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.