THIBODAUX, LA. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team open up conference play with a 57-49 win over Nicholls Saturday Dec 31
st at 1 p.m.
Southeastern (5-5, 1-0 SLC) opened up conference play this weekend with an entertaining matchup between its Southland rival, Nicholls State (3-9, 0-1 SLC). Multiple Lady Lions showed out as
Hailey Giaratano led with 15 points,
Alexius Horne trailed right behind with 13, Cierra Cunningham was behind with eight points and several other Lady Lions put up several points on the board. Horne also led with six rebounds and three assists.
With a few changes to the starting five, Southeastern head coach
Ayla Guzzardo was happy with the five that were out there. " It's a lot of pressure starting but the five we had out there handled it well." She also pointed out there was more aggression than in the last few games, " I was very happy to see
Taylor Bell and Cierra Cunningham coming off the bench with some spark and being more aggressive than they have been lately." She said.
Southeastern led the Colonels with an early four-point lead as Giaratano tries to get in a layup but is blocked by the Nicholls defense.
Natalie Kelly was able to rebound the ball and drive the score 6-4 at 4:25 in the first quarter. Kelly was finally able to play after sustaining a hand injury at Utah at the beginning of the season.
Chrissy Brown shows up and is able to get points on the board with an assist from Pierre and is followed up by Cunningham's layup before the two-minute warning in the first period.
Nicholls was able to keep up with SLU as they kept the score close with a 10-7 score at the end of the first quarter, but Southeastern kept the lead throughout the rest of the half but Nicholls defense was solid as Horne's layup at 4:43 was blocked by Nicholl's Kyla Hamilton. At halftime, Giaratano led the Lady Lions with nine points. Southeastern ended the first half with six steals and 10 forced turnovers.
SLU went into the third quarter leading the Lady Colonels 26-18.
Taylor Bell puts up a good layup with an assist from Horne, creating a back-and-forth game as Nicholls answered with a three pointer put up by Nicholl's Deonna Brister. Freshman Pierre ends the third quarter in style with a buzzer beater layup, sending the Lady Lions into the last quarter 43-29.
Southeastern opened up the fourth with shot by Horne, adding two to the board for the Lady Lions, 45-29. Giaratano and Cunningham put up back-to-back baskets before Giaratano fouled Nicholl's Lexi Alexander and Nicholls is able to get points on the board in the form of free throws. Horne goes in with a driving layup at the 5:52 mark, making the score 51-44. Nicholls sees some light as Brister is able to get in a layup and Bruce sinks a three pointer, but Southeastern holds its own as Giaratano puts in a three pointer to end the game 57-49 in favor of the Lady Lions
With the first game of the conference slate out of the way, Southeastern is 1-0, but Coach Guzzardo knows that this is only the beginning. "We are going to keep working, watching film, and the team is going to keep getting into the gym. We have a lot to prove this year. We have to keep working to get it done."
Southeastern will face against HCU at home January 5
th at 5 p.m. The game live stats can be accessed on
www.lionsports.net . The game can be viewed on ESPN+.
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.
