HAMMOND, La. – The red-hot Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team extended its winning streak to five games with a 58-44 win over UIW in Southland Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon in the University Center.
 
With the win, Southeastern (10-11, 7-5 Southland) is on its longest conference winning streak since the 2006-07 season. Behind a smothering defensive effort, SLU won by double digits for the fourth straight game – its largest such streak of double-digit victories since the 1993-94 season. UIW, which had come in having won back-to-back road games, fell to 10-11 overall and 6-6 in Southland play.
 
Celica Sterling led Southeastern with 19 points and was the lone Lady Lion in double figures. Charliee Dugas came off the bench with nine points, while Caitlyn Williams added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The Lady Lions won the battle on the boards, 39-31, improving to 5-0 when it out-rebounds an opponent. Alexius Horne led SLU with four assists.
 
UIW is the third Southland opponent Southeastern has held under 50 points this season. Williams (three blocked shots, three steals) and Dugas (three steals) keyed the defensive effort for SLU. Imani Robinson led the visitors with 15 points.
 
"Any time you can hold a conference opponent to 44 points, you've done something special," Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo said. "Our shots weren't falling today, so our defensive effort had to carry us to victory."
 
As the Lady Lions continue to move up the standings with each victory, Southeastern's mindset has not changed, according to Guzzardo.
 
"We're just taking it one game at a time," Guzzardo commented. "Our next opponent is Sam Houston State (on Wednesday) and that's our only focus right now."
 
In addition to continuing the SLU hot streak, Saturday also allowed the Lady Lions to support breast cancer awareness with the annual Play4Kay game. A season-high crowd of 829 were in the UC to see the Lady Lions continue their winning ways.
 
"Today's game was about more than basketball," Guzzardo said. "It was great to have our community support a great cause. We hope they'll continue to come out and support us in our home games to close out the regular season."
 
Southeastern took the lead late in the second quarter and went into the break with a 26-23 halftime lead. The Lady Lions maintained its advantage in the third quarter and went into the final period with a 39-34 cushion.
 
SLU took control for good early in the fourth quarter. The Lady Lions grew their lead to as much as 17 in the final period, holding UIW to three field goals in the final 10 minutes to pull away for the win.  
 
Up Next
Southeastern heads back on the road on Wednesday, traveling to Sam Houston State for a 6:30 p.m. contest in Huntsville, Texas. The game will be televised on ESPN+.  
 
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.
 
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