LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team will face third-seeded Lamar in the finals of the Jersey Mike's 2023 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Championships presented by LouisianaTravel.com Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Legacy Center.
 
The top-seeded Lady Lions (20-9) will be making their second straight trip to the tournament championship game and will be looking for their first SLC Tournament title and first berth in the NCAA Tournament. By virtue of the program's first SLC regular season championship, SLU is guaranteed a spot in the WNIT if it falls to Lamar (20-11) in the finals.
 
Thursday's game will be televised on ESPNU and can be heard in the Hammond area on The Boss 103.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM.
 
Southeastern advanced to the championship game in dramatic fashion, as Hailey Giaratano banked in the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left in overtime, as SLU handed Texas A&M-Commerce a 60-58 defeat in Wednesday's semifinals on the way to securing the program's first 20-win season since 1994-95.
 
All-SLC players Giaratano (12.3 ppg) and Alexius Horne (12.0 ppg) are the top scorers for SLU, while Taylor Bell (7.8 ppg), Jen Pierre (7.7 ppg) and Cierria Cunningham (7.4 ppg) round out the top scorers for a Lady Lion squad that is averaging 62.6 points per game. Pierre, who scored a game-high 19 points in Wednesday's win, leads the team with 2.9 assists per contest.
 
Natalie Kelly (8.8 rpg) and Chrissy Brown (6.9 rpg) lead the Lady Lions in rebounding. Kelly keys a Southeastern defense that leads the Southland with 54.4 points per game allowed, as the Albany, Louisiana native tops the league with 49 blocked shots and is fifth on the school's career blocked shots list with 85. Pierre, who had five steals in the semifinals, leads the team with 51 steals on the season.
 
Lamar received a first-round bye and defeated McNeese, 80-75, in Tuesday's quarterfinals. The Cardinals took down No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 65-53, in the semifinals Wednesday.
 
First team All-SLC post Akasha Davis (14.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg) leads the Cardinals. Sabria Dean (13.3 ppg) and Portia Adams (13.1 ppg) are the other top scorers for LU.
 
The all-time series between the two teams is tied, 22-22, but Lamar took down the Lady Lions in both of the meetings this season. Davis and Malay McQueen scored 14 points each in a 57-47 LU victory Jan. 7 in Hammond. Davis used a 22-point, 16-rebound effort to lead Lamar to a 66-54 win Feb. 23 in Beaumont, countering a career-high 21-point showing from Pierre.
 
Jersey Mike's 2023 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Championships presented by LouisianaTravel.com
March 6-9, 2023 | Legacy Center | Lake Charles, Louisiana
 
First Round – Monday, March 6
Game 1 – No. 5 Texas A&M-Commerce 79, No. 8 Northwestern State 66
Game 2 – No. 6 McNeese 87, No. 7 New Orleans 82 (OT)
 
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 7
Game 3 – Texas A&M-Commerce 63, No. 4 UIW 62
Game 4 – No. 3 Lamar 80, McNeese 75 (OT)
 
Semifinals – Wednesday, March 8
Game 5 – No. 1 Southeastern 60, Texas A&M-Commerce 58 (OT)
Game 6 – Lamar 65, No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 53
 
Finals – Thursday, March 9
Game 7 – Southeastern vs. Lamar, 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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