HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team fell to South Alabama 67-60 Friday evening at the Pride Roofing University Center.
Southeastern (5-4) came out to a slow start to begin the game, but contained South Alabama (7-3) to only 29 points in the first half of the contest. The Lady Lions finished with 23 points in the second half.
Senior Hailey Giaratano countered back from a quiet start in the first half and finished the game leading all scorers with 19 points. Giaratano has consecutively scored in double digits all nine games this season. The Ponchatoula native shot 0.82 percent from the free-throw line to close out the night.
South Alabama led all 39 minutes of the matchup with its biggest lead of 11 points coming in the second half. The Jaguars controlled the uptempo pace of the game and held the scoring advantage for three quarters. South Alabama capitalized off easy points at the free throw line and shot 47.9 percent from the field. Michiyah Simmons led the Jaguars in scoring with 16 points while Zena Elias, Kelsey Thompson and Jordan Rosier also finished in double digit scoring to extend their lead. Rosier had a solid performance from the three-point line shooting 60.0 percent along with Emani Burks leading with nine rebounds.
SLU remained in the game by a six point deficit throughout the fourth quarter, but could not take over the game. The Lady Lions received a spark from Jalencia Pierre who scored the first five points of the game, but ran into foul trouble. Pierre finished in double digits with 11 points alongside junior Taylor Bell who gave Southeastern some momentum in the second quarter scoring on three straight possessions to end with 12 points. Mackenzie Thomas contributed seven points and led the team with six rebounds relentlessly crashing the boards.
The Lady Lions will once again be battle tested on the road when they return to action Tuesday in Maui, Hawaii for a 11:30 p.m. Central matchup against Oregon State Dec. 19. Southeastern will face Oregon State and Tulsa Dec. 19-20 in the Maui Jim Maui Classic.
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.
