CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana senior
Celica Sterling's attempt at the game winner fell short at the buzzer as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi rallied past the Lady Lions for a 49-48 victory in Southland Conference women's basketball action Wednesday night in the Dugan Wellness Center.
The Lady Lions (10-14, 7-8 Southland) led by 10 points heading into the final period, but the host Islanders (18-7, 12-3 Southland) turned up the defensive pressure down the stretch. Texas A&M-Corpus Christ held SLU scoreless for the final 7:47 of the contest to avoid being swept in the season series by Southeastern.
Southeastern took the lead midway through the second quarter and maintained it until the waning minutes.
Alexius Horne and
Charliee Dugas led SLU with 11 points, four assists and two steals apiece.
Aminat Jubril led the Lady Lions with a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Islanders scored 30 of their points in the paint, as the frontcourt tandem of Alexes Bryant and Dalesia Booth led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Bryant led the host with seven rebounds, while Emma Young dished out a team-high four assists.
Southeastern fell behind 12-6 in the opening period after a Dae Dae Evans with 2:31 left in the opening quarter. However, three-point field goals by
Morgan Carrier, Dugas and Sterling keyed a 9-3 Lady Lion run to tie the score at 15-15 after the game's initial 10 minutes.
The score remained tied after a Booth bucket with 3:07 left. Southeastern closed the half with a 9-1 run and a Dugas trey sent SLU into the break with a 32-24 advantage.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would pull as close to five in the third quarter, but the Lady Lions would outscore the Islanders, 12-10, in the quarter. A
Jyar Francis basket put SLU up, 44-34, heading into the final period.
The Islanders scored the first two buckets of the final period, but Sterling answered with a four-point play to grow the lead back to 48-38 with 7:47 left. Unfortunately for SLU, the Lady Lions would miss their last eight field goal attempts to close the game on a scoreless drought.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took the lead with just under two minutes left, as Young found Alecia Westbrook for the go-ahead layup. SLU had two game-winning chances in the final minute.
With 42 seconds left, Dugas' potential go-ahead three from the corner was short and the Islanders grabbed the rebound. Southeastern forced A&M-Corpus Christi into a shot clock violation, but Sterling's three from well behind the arc was off the mark as time expired.
Up Next
Southeastern will open its final home stand of the season on Saturday, hosting Abilene Christian for a 1 p.m. contest in the University Center.
The SLU-ACU contest will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at
www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio and Lions Gameday Experience apps.
The Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of Saturday's game. 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).
Jyar Francis is Saturday's Spotlight Player of the Game. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Ponchatoula, 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.
