HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team opened its three-game home stand on a high note, as the Lady Lions claimed a 48-44 decision over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a Southland Conference women's basketball defensive struggle Saturday afternoon in the University Center.
 
Forcing 20 Islander turnovers helped SLU (5-8, 2-2 Southland) hand the visiting Islanders (9-5, 3-1 Southland) their first league loss of the season. After the biggest win of the young 2019-20 season, Lady Lion third-year head coach Ayla Guzzardo was quick to praise her team's effort.
 
"This was a team effort today on both ends of the floor," Guzzardo commented. "We shared the ball so well in the first half and our defense won it for us down the stretch. This group works hard and plays for each other and that's all you can ask."
 
With the win over an Islander squad that was tied atop the Southland Conference, Guzzardo believes her team can start taking another step forward.
 
"We were able to make a statement today that we're not a 'bottom-of-the-conference' caliber team," Guzzardo said. "When we play the way we're capable, we can beat teams at the top of our league. This was a game we wouldn't have won two years ago. We feel we have some real competitors on this team and we're going to hold them to a high standard moving forward."
 
Celica Sterling, Jyar Francis and Alexius Horne keyed a balanced offensive effort with 10 points apiece. Tyler Morrison added seven, while she and Horne shared team-high honors with three assists each.
 
Caitlyn Williams led Southeastern with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Francis keyed the defensive effort with five steals.
 
Alexes Bryant was the standout for the visitors, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds. Bryant was joined in double figures by Dalesia Booth, who added 13 points.
 
The Lady Lions took control of the game early, as Sterling scored all 10 of her points in the opening quarter. Southeastern limited the Islanders to 18.2 percent (2-for-11) shooting from the field in the opening period, as SLU took an 18-5 advantage after the initial 10 minutes.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi righted the ship in the early moments of the second quarter, as a free throw by Alecia Westbrook cut the Lady Lion lead to 21-15 at the midway point of the period. However, threes by Horne and Morgan Carrier helped SLU grow its halftime lead to 28-20.
 
Southeastern was held scoreless for the first seven minutes of the second half, as a free throw by Booth tied the score at 28-28 with 3:34 left in the third quarter. Francis banked in a put back to give SLU the lead, but Booth answered with a three to give the Islanders their only lead of the game.
 
A three by Morrison ignited a 9-3 SLU run to close out the period. Southeastern headed into the final 10 minutes with a 39-34 cushion.
 
The Islanders cut the lead to 41-40 on a three-point play by Bryant with just under five minutes left. On the ensuing possession, Morrison banked in her second three of the contest to put SLU back up, 44-40.
 
Back-to-back baskets by Booth and Bryant knotted the score at 44-44 with 2:45 remaining. The defenses turned up the intensity over the next several trips before Williams drew a foul and sank both free throws to give SLU a 46-44 advantage with 35.8 seconds left.
 
On the ensuing AMCC possession, Francis tied up Bryant going up for a shot to give SLU the ball back. The Lady Lions did not have to take another shot, but Francis stepped out of bounds trying to work out of an Islander trap, giving Texas A&M-Corpus Christi one last chance.
 
With the clock running down, smothering defense by Horne forced AMCC's Emma Young to travel. From there, Horne iced the game with a pair of free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining.
 
Up Next
Southeastern continues its home stand on Wednesday, hosting Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. in the University Center.
 
The Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of the SLU-SHSU 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 will also be a Cane's Challenge. If the Lady Lions score 60 or more points versus Sam Houston State, 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.
 
Caitlyn Williams is Wednesday's Spotlight Player of the Game and the first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Brusly, Louisiana 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.