HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana got back into the win column in dominant fashion on Saturday, defeating Northwestern State, 87-52, in Southland Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the University Center.
SLU (4-5, 3-3 Southland) snapped a three-game Southland losing streak with Saturday's win. The Lady Lions have now won their last three meetings versus league and in-state rival Northwestern State (0-10, 0-5 Southland).
"We needed this win," Southeastern head coach
Ayla Guzzardo said. "We made too many mistakes in our last three losses and we were able to cut down on some of those tonight. We were particularly pleased with the way we shared the ball and played great team basketball.
"We can't get too high from this win, just like we couldn't get too low (after Wednesday)," Guzzardo added. "We have to take advantage of playing our next four games at home."
Cierria Cunningham led SLU with 25 points – the most scored by a Lady Lion in a game this season.
Morgan Carrier chipped in with 16 points, while
Chrissy Brown posted the first double-double of 2020-21 for Southeastern, recording 14 points and 11 rebounds apiece. Cunningham and
Breonca Ducksworth led the Lady Lions with five assists and four steals apiece, while all nine active SLU players scored in a balanced effort.
Southeastern made 56.4 percent (31-for-55) of its field goal attempts – including 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from three-point range. SLU tied a season high with its 13 treys, as Carrier (4-for-6),
Daija Harvey (3-7),
Hailey Giaratano (2-4), Brown (2-3) and Cunningham (2-2) all had the touch from behind the arc.
SLU held Northwestern State to 36.7 percent (18-for-49) shooting and forced 23 Lady Demon turnovers. Kalen Green and Osha Cummings led NSU with 18 and 14 points, respectively.
SLU led wire-to-wire, as Carrier, Giaratano and Cunningham combined for four threes to fuel a 16-5 run to open the game. The Lady Lions led 23-8 after the opening quarter and extended the lead to 51-18 at halftime. The 51 points were too shy of a University Center record for points scored in the first half.
NSU outscored Southeastern in the third quarter, but could get no closer than 28. The Lady Lions made 61.5 percent (8-13) of their field goal attempts in the final quarter to secure the 35-point victory – their most lopsided win over the Lady Lions since a 100-63 triumph in the 1978-79 season.
Up Next
Southeastern will continue its home stand on Wednesday, hosting Central Arkansas at 5:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN+. The game can also be heard on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at
www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the Lions Gameday Experience and TuneIn Radio apps.
Jaylen Huderson will be Wednesday's Spotlight Player of the Game. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Slidell, Louisiana native courtesy of PRIDE.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
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.
