KATY, Texas – The last time the Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team won a Southland Conference Tournament game, Lady Lion head coach
Ayla Guzzardo was in eighth grade and much of her roster had yet to be born.
The 2021-22 Southeastern team began to write its own history Thursday afternoon at the Merrell Center. Five Lady Lions scored in double figures to fuel an 80-66 Southeastern victory over New Orleans in the quarterfinals of the league tournament.
With the win, third-seeded SLU (15-10) moves on to face No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (19-9) in the semifinals Friday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN+.
The victory over the Privateers (5-18) was just the second postseason victory ever for the Lady Lions since joining the Southland Conference prior to the 1997-98 season. SLU's only Southland Tournament victory prior to Thursday was a 66-63 win at former league foe UTSA during the 2001-02 season.
"This win has been a long time coming for this program," Guzzardo said. "Our student-athletes and our coaches have put in a lot of work for us to get to this point. But, we didn't come to Katy to win one game – we came to win a championship."
The Lady Lions were successful on Thursday thanks to two factors that have been the team's calling cards throughout the 2021-22 season – defense and balance on offense.
Southeastern held New Orleans scoreless for the final 7:34 of the opening quarter to take an 18-7 lead after the opening quarter. UNO could never overcome that early hole, as the Privateers got no closer than seven and the Lady Lions grew the lead to as many as 23 early in the fourth quarter.
SLU outscored the Privateers, 52-17, in bench points, as four of the five players in double figures for the Lady Lions were reserves.
Taylor Bell led the balanced Southeastern attack with 13 points, followed by
Breonca Ducksworth with 12 points and post trio of
Natalie Kelly,
Morgan Davis and
Caitlyn Williams with 10 points apiece. Ducksworth led Southeastern with four assists and 12 of the 15 Lady Lions who played scored in the win.
The Lady Lions also controlled the boards, finishing with a 40-28 rebounding advantage. Kelly led SLU with eight rebounds, while Bell and
Hailey Giaratano pulled down seven boards apiece.
New Orleans was led by Jomyra Mathis and DeArica Pryor with 17 points apiece. Mathis also dished out four assists to lead UNO.
New Orleans 66 (5-18)
Scott 2-7 2-2 6, Cooper 1-2 0-0 2, Mathis 4-13 9-10 17, Gipson 2-5 1-2 7, Pryor 6-15 4-4 17, Davis 1-4 0-0 3, Ross 2-7 1-2 5, Thompson 1-6 5-6 7, Cordis 1-1 0-0 2, Dianis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-60 22-26 66.
Southeastern 80 (15-10
Williams 4-6 2-2 10, Cunningham 1-2 1-2 4, Brown 0-2 2-2 2, Horne 1-5 1-4 4, Giaratano 3-4 2-3 8, Ducksworth 5-8 2-4 12, Bell 4-5 5-7 13, Kelly 3-5 4-6 10, Davis 5-7 0-0 10, Harvey 1-2 0-0 3, Carrier 1-3 1-1 3, Flowers 0-0 1-2 1, Brumfield 0-0 0-0 0, Huderson 0-0 0-0 0, Bradford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-49 21-33.
End of 1
st Quarter – SLU 18, UNO 7. Halftime – SLU 33, UNO 23. End of 3
rd Quarter – SLU 53, UNO 35. 3-point goals – UNO 4-17 (Gipson 2-5, Pryor 1-5, Davis 1-3, Mathos 0-3, Ross 0-1), SLU 3-11 (Horne 1-3, Harvey 1-2, Cunningham 1-1, Brown 0-2, Williams 0-1, Ducksworth 0-1, Carrier 0-1). Technical Fouls – SLU Bench. Fouled Out – Scott, Davis (UNO). Rebounds – UNO 28 (Four with 4), SLU 40 (Kelly 8). Assists – UNO 6 (Mathis 4), SLU 19 (Ducksworth 4). Total Fouls – UNO 26, SLU 17. A – 644.
2022 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament | March 10-13 | Merrell Center | Katy, Texas
First Round – Thursday, March 10
Game 1 – No. 5 UIW 74, No. 8 Nicholls 73
Game 2 – No. 7 New Orleans 57, No. 6 Northwestern State 48
Second Round – Friday, March 11
Game 3 – UIW 90, No. 4 McNeese 63
Game 4 - No. 3 Southeastern 80, New Orleans 66
Semifinals – Saturday, March 12
1 p.m.- Game 5 - No. 1 HBU vs. UIW (ESPN+)
3:30 p.m. - Game 6 - No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Southeastern (ESPN+)
Championship – Sunday, March 13
1 p.m. – Game 7 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 (CBS Sports Network)
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.
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