HOUSTON, Tex. – The reigning Southland Conference champions Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team finished with a 53-51 victory over HCU Thursday evening in the Sharp Gymnasium.
Sophomore guard
Allasia Washington (9 points) secured the win for Southeastern (11-7, 7-0 SLC) by draining two last second free throws to progress to 7-0 in conference over HCU (5-13, 0-7 SLC).
Hailey Giaratano and junior transfer
Cheyanne Daniels tied with 14 points to lead all scorers in the matchup. Giaratano finished shooting 46.7 percent from the field with four assists while Daniels pulled seven rebounds finishing 60.0 percent round the rim. Junior transfer
Mackenzie Thomas closed out the night with 10 rebounds to lead the team.
The Lady Lions remain the only undefeated team in league play and maintained their dominance in paint production with a 32-14-point advantage over the Huskies. SLU continues to rely on points in the paint gaining nine points off second chance opportunities.
Houston Christian came out to a hot start to gain a 10-8-point advantage in the first quarter fueled by senior forward N'Denasija Collins (16 points) and Enya Maguire (15 points). Collins shot 10-12 from the free throw line and collected 12 rebounds to secure a double-double in the matchup.
Southeastern dictated the second quarter with a demanding 17-8-point advantage sparked by
Jalencia Pierre and
Taylor Bell tied with six points. SLU controlled the third quarter as well with a 16-15-point advantage to cut the deficit by one point, 25-24.
The Lady Lions contained the Huskies fourth quarter spark incited by Maguire with a 3-pointer to attain some momentum for HCU. Maguire obtained all 15 points from behind the arch shooting 45.4 percent. Giaratano stepped for SLU with two back-to-back clutch plays to regain the lead while senior guard Kennedy Wilson (10 points) for HCU converted two-points off a dribble drive to tie the game for the Huskies with five seconds on the clock late in the fourth quarter. Washington seized an offensive rebound for Southeastern and was fouled on the shot attempt to secure the win at the free throw line.
SLU withstood the storm of this game with balanced scoring from key reserves contributing 13 points. The Lady Lions forced HCU into 18 turnovers capitalizing with 12 points off turnovers in the matchup.
Southeastern will remain on the road for a rematch of last season's SLC Tournament championship matchup versus Lamar Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Saturday's game will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard online at
www.LionSports.net/ListenLive. After Saturday's game SLU will return back to the Pride Roofing University Center Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. to face UIW.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Women's Basketball, follow @LionUpWBB on X, like /SoutheasternWBB on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern offers mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
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.
