KATY, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team's historic postseason run ended with a tough 56-52 overtime loss to UIW in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game Sunday afternoon at the Merrell Center.
The Lady Lions, who were making their first-ever appearance in the Southland Tournament final, ended the season with a 16-11 overall record. UIW (13-16) earned its first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament and will face Howard in a play-in game Wednesday in Columbia, South Carolina.
Hailey Giaratano led Southeastern with 15 points and four steals in the loss.
Caitlyn Williams and
Alexius Horne each had nine points, while Williams pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Giaratano and Horne represented SLU on the Southland All-Tournament team. Tiana Gardner, who led UIW with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five steals Sunday, earned tournament MVP accolades.
"This was a tough one and it hurts," Southeastern head coach
Ayla Guzzardo, who has improved SLU's record in each of her five seasons and led the Lady Lions to its first postseason wins in two decades, commented. "We wanted this so bad, not only for our program, but for our university and for the city of Hammond. We hurt the most for our players, because we see all the work they've put in on a daily basis to get our program to this point."
Less than 24 hours removed from a thrilling 59-54 overtime win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Saturday's semifinal, the Lady Lions were involved in another heart-stopper with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
It appeared that the Cardinals were poised to end the game in regulation, as a pair of Gardner free throws gave UIW a 48-44 cushion with 19 seconds left.
After a quick timeout, Giaratano netted a three from the right wing with 11.8 seconds left to cut the lead to 48-47. The two-time All-Southland performer hit six three-point field goals in the final two games of the tournament after making just seven from behind the arc in the regular season.
On the ensuing possession, UIW's Kamryn Gipson lost the ball in the backcourt and
Chrissy Brown scooped it up and found a wide-open
Alexius Horne under the basket for an easy layup with just under five seconds left to give SLU a 49-48 advantage.
"One thing about our team is that we never stop fighting," Giaratano commented. "We did the same thing yesterday to force the game into overtime. Today it just didn't go our way."
Horne was fouled on the make, but missed the free throw. However, Williams, who finished her career sixth in school history with 848 career rebounds, grabbed the board and was fouled with 3.5 seconds left. The first Lady Lion to earn first team All-Southland honors since 2008-09 made one of two to give Southeastern a 50-48 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Gardner drew a foul with 0.5 showing on the clock. She sank both free throws to force overtime.
Myra Bell hit a tough jumper on the Cardinals' first possession to give UIW the early lead in overtime. Southeastern had empty possessions on its first six trips of extra time, before Giaratano found Williams for the tying bucket with under a minute left.
UIW went to the conference's leading scorer, Jaaucklyn Moore, on the next trip and the first team All-Southland guard hit a contested shot to give the Cardinals the lead for good.
Southeastern turned it over on its next trip, but were given one more shot when Bell missed both free throws.
Breonca Ducksworth took the ball the length of the court, but her layup rimmed out. Gardner corralled the rebound and iced the game with a pair of free throws.
The Lady Lions will be replacing five seniors from the 2021-22 squad in Williams, Ducksworth,
Morgan Carrier,
Morgan Davis and
Kacey Bradford. Giaratano leads a group of 10 returning letter winners for 2022-23, while the SLU program will be bolstered with the addition of guards Jen Pierre, who was named Class 2A state tournament MVP after leading Amite to a state championship last week, and Allasia Washington, who keyed Madison Prep's run to the Class 3A title game.
"We've gotten the taste of the big stage and the feeling from this last game is going to make our returners hungrier this offseason," Guzzardo commented. "We've built this program by recruiting not only good players, but good people, and we're going to continue to add quality to our roster."
2022 Southland Conference All-Tournament Team
Hailey Giaratano, Southeastern
Alexius Horne, Southeastern
Tiana Gardner, UIW (MVP)
Jaaucklyn Moore, UIW
Makinna Serrata, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
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
Game 5 - UIW 54, No. 1 HBU 33
Game 6 - Southeastern 59, No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 54 (OT)
Championship – Sunday, March 13
Game 7 – UIW 56, Southeastern 52 (OT)
SOCIAL MEDIA
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