LOGAN, Utah – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team earned its first road win of 2022-23 with a 78-68 win Friday evening at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Natalie Kelly and
Alexius Horne were the standout performers for SLU (2-0) against the Lady Aggies (1-1), Horne matched a career high with a team-high 24 points to go with five assists, five rebounds and two blocks. Kelly paced the Lady Lions with nine rebounds.
Horne was one of four Lady Lions in double figures.
Hailey Giaratano chipped in with 15 points, while
Taylor Bell and
Daija Harvey added 14 points each. All of Harvey's scoring came in the second half, as she helped stave off a Utah State rally.
"We played a full 40 minutes as a team," Southeastern head coach
Ayla Guzzardo commented. "We had four players in double figures that propelled us to a hard-fought road win. Utah State is a great program with great shooters and we knew they were going to shoot the ball well, but we made multiple defensive stops especially late in the game."
Guzzardo was also pleased with the balanced attack her Lady Lions showed during their road debut.
"Alexius is a matchup problem for most teams, plus Hailey and Taylor gave their defense problems," Guzzardo commented. "Daija was big for us on the down stretch, hitting some huge threes. We are happy with the direction we are moving to open the season."
Mayson Kimball led the Lady Aggies with 24 points, six rebounds and was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range.
Southeastern set the tone early with a dominant opening quarter. SLU scored the final eight points of the period to take a commanding 20-7 advantage after the initial 10 minutes.
The Lady Lions maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the majority of the second quarter, but the host Aggies closed the period on a 9-2 run to go into the break facing a 34-27 deficit.
Southeastern would grow the lead back to as much as 17 in the third quarter, but Utah State wouldn't go away quietly. USU rallied all the way back to cut the lead to 64-62 with just under five minutes left.
Giaratano answered with a bucket on the ensuing possession, then Harvey connected on back-to-back threes to key an 8-2 run and give SLU a 72-64 advantage with 3:23 left.
Utah State never threatened the rest of the way, as Southeastern closed out the victory and avenged a 73-71 loss last season in Hammond.
Next up, Southeastern will play at Utah Sunday at 8 p.m. (Central) in Salt Lake City to close out the Utah leg of its road trip before heading to San Diego, California Tuesday for its final road game of the week-long trip against San Diego State at 8 p.m. (Central).
A live video stream and live stats, provided by the hosts, from Sunday's contest can be accessed on the women's basketball schedule at
www.LionSports.net.
