HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference champions Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team claimed first place in the preseason poll for the 2023-24 season. This was announced Tuesday at SLC Conference Media Day at the Coushatta Casino Resort in Lake Charles.
Alexius Horne and
Hailey Giaratano received selections on the 2023-24 Southland women's basketball Preseason All-Conference first team.
Southeastern was selected number one overall in the poll with 15 first place votes and 159 points. The Lady Lions are returning from a historic season of being SLC regular season co-champions, Southland Conference tournament champions and punching their first ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Last season Southeastern accomplished a great deal for the program's history and Coach
Ayla Guzzardo is not stopping there.
Guzzardo stated, "For us the preseason polls are great, but at the end of the day we are really focused on results at the end of the season. We have overcame being picked at the bottom of the conference to being picked first. That is a testament to our current and former teams that laid the foundation."
Horne earned preseason first team after being named at the end of last season. She averaged 12.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Horne collected a career high of 28 points versus LSU. Giaratano stepped up to first team after she was named to the 2022-23 LSWA All-Louisiana second team and second team Southland All-Conference last season. She averaged 12.2 points per game, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. Giaratano earned a career high of 24 points against UNO. She was also named Tournament MVP and All-Academic 1
st Team.
The Lady Lions are returning eight players from last year's championship team that went 21-10 overall (14-4 in conference) with seven new additions to continue the progression of the program. Coach Guzzardo although dependent on the production of her returners, is excited about what the newcomers will bring to the table as well.
"As always, our preseason All-Conference contributions with Giaratano and Horne will be in the mix, but if you watched us last season, you know about
Jalencia Pierre and
Taylor Bell. Both had great seasons last year, especially in the conference tournament, giving us that 'spark.' We added multiple newcomers in a variety of positions, but we definitely got bigger with post transfers
Kennedy Paul and
Cheyanne Daniels. I look forward to them adding an inside presence along with our dynamic guard play."
SLU will host its season opener on Monday Nov. 6 against Millsaps in the Pride Roofing University Center at 11 a.m.
Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
- Southeastern 159
- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 140
- Lamar 132
- UIW 97
T5. HCU 74
T5. McNeese 74
7. Northwestern State 65
8. Texas A&M-Commerce 58
9. New Orleans 56
10. Nicholls 39
First Team
Alecia Westbrook, A&M-Corpus Christi
Akasha Davis, Lamar
Alexius Horne, Southeastern
Hailey Giaratano, Southeastern
DeArica Pryor, New Orleans
Second Team
Nina De Leon Negron, UIW
N'Denasija Collins, HCU
Sabrina Dean, Lamar
Paige Allen, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Lexi Alexander, Nicholls
SCORE ONE MORE CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the women's soccer program are encouraged to join the Score One More Club. Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners. All membership fees and donations to Score One More Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern soccer program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at
laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting
www.LionUp.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Soccer, follow @LionUpSoccer and @Nathan90G on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow slusoccer on Instagram.
