NATCHITOCHES, La. – Southeastern Louisiana outscored Northwestern State, 43-28, in the second half on the way to a 72-56 victory over the Lady Demons in Southland Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
 
The Lady Lions (7-11, 4-5 Southland) posted their most efficient offensive half of the season, shooting 66.7 percent (16-for-24) from the field and committing just five turnovers after halftime. NSU fell to 5-13 overall and 2-7 in league play, despite a game-high 31 points from Kira Bonner, who scored the Lady Demons' first 20 points of the game.
 
Southeastern led by one at the break, but pulled away in the second half. Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo credited one of her freshmen for helping turn the tide after the break.
 
"At halftime, Bonner had 22 of their 28 points and we stressed that we couldn't let one person beat us," Guzzardo said. "Daija Harvey came in and did an excellent job on her in the second half and made her work for everything she got. On offense, we did a much better job attacking out of their traps."
 
Celica Sterling led Southeastern with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Alexius Horne (14 points) and Morgan Carrier (12 points). Jyar Francis added nine points off the bench, as SLU fell just short of having four players in double figures for the second straight game. Southeastern also finished with a season-high 18 assists with Horne tying her career high with a game-high eight dimes.
 
"We have six new players on this year's roster, so we knew it was going to take some time for us to gel offensively, but we're starting to come together now," Guzzardo commented. "Alexius continues to grow as a freshman point guard and we just did a nice job of sharing the ball today. Celica also stepped up big for us at the point when Alexius got in foul trouble. She played all 40 minutes, led us in scoring and didn't commit a turnover."
 
Southeastern improved to 3-0 this season when outrebounding an opponent, finishing with a 35-30 rebounding advantage. Caitlyn Williams led SLU with six rebounds, while Horne, Sterling and Francis grabbed five boards each. Sterling led the Lady Lions with three steals.
 
Bonner was joined in double figures by teammate Jasmyn Johnson, who finished with 10 points. Gabby Bell led the Lady Demons with four assists, while Lacee Savage, Jocelyn Scott and Bonner each had five rebounds.
 
A couple of Carrier threes helped SLU jump out to a 12-4 lead to open the contest. However, Bonner answered with an 8-0 run to knot the score. Williams answered with five straight points of her own to give the Lady Lions a 17-13 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
After Sterling opened the second quarter with a bucket to stretch the lead to six, Bonner scored seven straight points to give NSU a 20-19 lead with 8:31 left. Neither team would lead by more than three the rest of the quarter and Southeastern went into the break with a narrow 29-28 advantage.
 
The lead would remain one after a Bell free throw cut the lead to 34-33 with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter. From that point forward, it would be all SLU.
 
Francis scored six straight points, then Harvey capped an 8-0 run with a layup that gave Southeastern a 42-33 lead with 3:16 remaining. The Lady Lions held NSU without a field goal from the 6:46 mark of the quarter until Bonner hit a three with two seconds left in the period. By that time, SLU's lead ballooned to 52-40 heading into the final quarter.
 
Northwestern State was unable to rally in the final quarter. The Lady Demons got no closer than 10 in the final period and SLU grew its lead to as many as 17 down the stretch.
 
Up Next
Southeastern returns home to host Central Arkansas on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the University Center. The Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of the SLU-UCA contest. Tune in online at www.LionSports.net or the Lions Game Day Experience app for Android or iOS devices. Fans can also watch on Southeastern's YouTube channel (/SLUathletics) with any mobile, tablet or smart TV device (e.g., Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku).
 
Wednesday's game features the Pack the House promotion. There will be free Raising Cane's for the first 200 students in attendance as well as fun promotions in-game. Buy one, get one general admission ticket offer is available for fans, who can use the promo code HOUSE online at www.lionsports.net/tickets or mention "Pack The House" when you purchase tickets over the phone.

Wednesday is also a Cane's Challenge. If the Lady Lions score 60 or more points versus the Sugar Bears, fans can redeem their game ticket or student coupon at their local participating Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers to receive a free combo with the purchase of another of equal or greater value.
 
Aminat Jubril is Wednesday's Spotlight Player of the Game. The first 150 games will receive a trading card featuring the Lagos, Nigeria native courtesy of PRIDE.
 
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.