Southeastern Louisiana (10-6, 9-4 SLC) at Central Arkansas (10-12, 8-6 SLC)
March 3, 2021 | 4 p.m. | Farris Center | Conway, Ark.
Series History: UCA leads, 19-10
Last Meeting: Central Arkansas 60, Southeastern Louisiana 54 (Jan. 27, 2021 | Hammond, La.)
Live Video | Live Stats
 
HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team will open the final week of the 2020-21 regular season with a 4 p.m. Southland Conference contest at Central Arkansas on Wednesday in Conway, Arkansas.
 
The Lady Lions (10-6, 9-4 Southland) and the host Sugar Bears (10-12, 8-6 Southland) have both clinched spots among next week's 10-team Southland Conference Tournament field and each head into the final week of the regular season with an opportunity to be as high as the No. 2 seed.
 
Currently on a six-game winning streak that matches the longest Southland streak in program history, Southeastern will be no lower than the No. 4 seed.
 
Southeastern extended its win streak on Saturday with a 73-39 victory over Northwestern State last Saturday. The 39 points scored by the Lady Demons were the lowest ever yielded by SLU versus a Southland Conference opponent.
 
The Lady Lions used a balanced effort on the way to its second straight series sweep of the Lady Demons. Daija Harvey scored a career-high 16 points to lead four players in double figures for Southeastern.
 
Morgan Carrier and Hailey Giaratano pitched in 12 points apiece for SLU, while Cierria Cunningham added 11 points. Cunningham dished out a season-high eight assists, while Caitlyn Williams pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and Natalie Kelly blocked a team-high four shots.
 
Carrier (12.9 ppg, 11^th) and Giaratano (11.6 ppg, 16^th) are among the Southland's leading scorers. Cunningham (9.2 ppg), Williams (8.8 ppg) and Breonca Ducksworth (8.1 ppg) complete the top five scorers on the SLU roster. Cunningham and Ducksworth are tied for sixth in the Southland with 3.1 assists per game.
 
Southeastern continues to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage. Carrier (45.5, 2^nd), Giaratano (40.3, 4^th) and Harvey (34.5, 12^th) all are among the most accurate three-point shooters in the league. Carrier ranks among the school's career leaders in three-point field goals made (130, 5th), attempted (364, 6^th) and percentage (35.7, 7^th).
 
The Lady Lions have continued to improve on the glass, ranking sixth in the league with a – 0.8 margin. Kelly is third in the Southland with 8.5 rebounds per game, while Chrissy Brown (5.3 rpg, 20^th) also is on the league leaderboard.
 
Williams, who was named LSWA Player of the Week Monday, hasn't played enough games to be listed on the leaderboard, but is averaging 7.6 boards per contest and is 10^th in school history with 624 career rebounds.
 
SLU has steadily improved on defense throughout the season, allowing less than 50 points to three straight opponents for the first time since the 2005-06 season. Opponents are averaging 62.3 points and 18.1 turnovers per game versus the Lady Lions.
 
Kelly is third in the Southland with 1.5 blocked shots per game to lead the defensive effort. Williams is fifth in program history with 80 career blocks, while Ducksworth and Cunningham lead Southeastern with 1.7 and 1.5 steals per outing, respectively.
 
Central Arkansas has won three of its last four heading into Wednesday's contest. Lucy Ibeh leads the Sugar Bears with 13.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest.
 
Southeastern is 10-19 all-time versus Central Arkansas. Back on Jan. 27 in Hammond, Ibeh scored 19 points to lead the Sugar Bears to a 60-54 victory. Southeastern has not lost since falling to UCA.
 
Up Next
Following Wednesday's contest, Southeastern will close out the regular season at New Orleans with a 4 p.m. contest on Saturday.  
   
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.