Game 14 | SLC Game 4 | Southeastern (7-6, 3-0 SLC) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11-6, 3-0 SLC)
Jan. 27, 2022 | 5:30 p.m. | University Center | Hammond, La.
Series History: AMCC leads 11-8
Last Meeting: Southeastern 71, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 58 (Jan. 2, 2021 | Hammond, La.)
Television: ESPN+
            Announcers: Tyler Thomas and Kemmler Chapple
Audio: www.LionSports.net/ListenLive
            Announcer: Chris Salim
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats

Game 15 | SLC Game 5 | Southeastern (7-6, 3-0 SLC) vs. UIW (4-10, 0-3 SLC)
Jan. 29, 2022 | 1 p.m. | University Center | Hammond, La.
Series History: UIW leads 5-3
Last Meeting: Southeastern 58, UIW 44 (Feb. 8, 2020 | Hammond, La.)
Television: ESPN+
            Announcers: Tyler Thomas and Kemmler Chapple
Audio: www.LionSports.net/ListenLive
            Announcer: Chris Salim
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
 
HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team will look to build on its best-ever start to Southland Conference play when it hosts a pair of league contests this week in the University Center.
 
The tie atop the Southland Conference standings will be broken on Thursday, when the Lady Lions (7-6, 3-0 Southland) hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11-6, 3-0 Southland) at 5:30 p.m. in a battle of the last two league teams yet to suffer a conference loss. On Saturday, UIW (4-10, 0-3 Southland) visits Hammond for a 1 p.m. Southland matinee. Both games will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive.
 
Thursday's Spotlight Players of the Game will be Natalie Kelly and Cierria Cunningham. Hailey Giaratano and Alexius Horne will be Saturday's Spotlight Players of the Game. The first 150 fans will receive trading cards featuring that game's Spotlight Players, courtesy of PRIDE.
 
Off to a 3-0 start to conference play for the first time since joining the Southland prior to the 1997-98 season, the Lady Lions have outscored their first three league opponents by an average of over 25 points per game. SLU has done much of the damage inside, as Southeastern has a 162-51 advantage in points in the paint in conference play.
 
Taylor Bell led the Lady Lions with 20 points in their 76-58 win over Nicholls on Saturday. Morgan Davis (18 points), Breonca Ducksworth (10 points) and Caitlyn Williams (10 points) joined Bell in double figures. Ducksworth also led SLU with six assists, six rebounds and four steals.
 
Southeastern's first win in Thibodaux put SLU over .500 for the first time this season. Leading the Southland with a 42.7 field goal percentage, SLU has used a balanced effort on the season, as no player averages in double figures, but eight players average five or more points.
 
Giaratano leads the team with 8.5 points per game, followed by Davis (8.4 ppg), Williams (7.9 ppg), Morgan Carrier (7.2 ppg) and Ducksworth (6.8 ppg). Cunningham (2.9 apg, 3^rd), Giaratano (2.9 apg, 3^rd) and Ducksworth (2.4 apg, 9^th) all rank among the Southland assist leaders.
 
Carrier and Daija Harvey have a team-high 16 three-point field goals this season. Carrier ranks in the Southeastern career top 10 in three-point field goals made (148, 4^th) and attempted (430, 5^th).
 
Opponents are averaging 55.5 points per contest – the lowest in the Southland – versus SLU. Giaratano (12, 6^th) and Kelly (9, 9^th) both sit in the league's top 10 in blocked shots, while Williams' 87 career blocked shots are third in program history.
 
The Islanders have matched SLU's hot start to Southland Conference play. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi opened league play with home victories over UIW (61-54), McNeese (72-61) and HBU (57-44) over the first two weekends of conference action.
 
Reigning Southland Player of the Week Alecia Westbrook leads the Islanders, as the Kansas City, Missouri native is the lone player averaging a double-double with 13.1 points and 10.9 rebounds per contest. Makinna Serrata (12.8 ppg) and Annukka Willstedt (9.2 ppg) are the team's other top scorers.
 
Violeta Verano is the top distributor for the Islander offense, leading the Southland with 4.4 assists per contest. Opponents are averaging 59.2 points per game versus TAMU-CC. Paige Allen (2.4 spg, 2^nd) and Westbrook (2.2 spg, 3^rd) are near the top of the league in steals, while Nabaweeyah McGill has a league-high 28 blocked shots.
 
Southeastern is 8-11 all-time versus the Islanders. In last season's meeting in Hammond, SLU earned a 71-58 victory in the Southland opener. Harvey led four Lady Lions in double figures with 13 points, while Chrissy Brown tallied five steals as Southeastern forced 24 Islander turnovers.
 
UIW, which travels to Northwestern State on Thursday, will be looking for its first win away from home and its first conference victory of 2021-22 this week. The Cardinals fell to A&M-Corpus Christi, HBU (62-57) and McNeese (67-57) over the past two weeks.
 
Jaaucklyn Moore leads the team and ranks second in the Southland with 16.6 points per game. Destiny Terrell paces UIW with 4.8 rebounds per contest, while she and Chloe Storer each have 21 assists.
 
Opponents are averaging 60.3 points per game against the Cardinals. Jenkins leads the Southland with 2.4 steals per game.
 
SLU has a 3-5 all-time series record versus UIW. The two teams haven't met since the 2019-20 season with the Lady Lions taking a 58-44 win in Hammond.
 
Following this week's action, Southeastern will hit the road for a 5 p.m. contest on Feb. 3 at McNeese. The game in Lake Charles can be heard online at LionSports.net/ListenLive.
 
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. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.