RUSTON, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University closed out the game on an 11-0 run to earn a 59-47 victory over Louisiana Tech in nonconference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Thomas Assembly Center.
The victory was also the 100
th at Southeastern for head coach
Ayla Guzzardo, as the Hammond, Louisiana native has led her hometown university to four consecutive winning seasons, including the 2022-23 Southland Conference championship campaign that saw SLU advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
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Southeastern (4-1) extended its win streak to three games, as the Lady Lions added Louisiana Tech (4-2) to their list of November mid-major victims that also includes Memphis (Nov. 19) and Southern Miss (Nov. 15).
The win was also just the sixth for Southeastern over the Lady Techsters in program history and the first for SLU over Tech since the Lady Lions' 1976-77 AIAW National Championship campaign.
"This was a great team win for us," Guzzardo commented. "We had 22 turnovers, so it wasn't the prettiest victory, but we found a way to get to 4-1."
Taylor Bell, who hails from Shreveport and had a large contingent of supporters in attendance, led a balanced Southeastern scoring effort with 16 points off the bench, while
Alexius Horne and
Jalencia Pierre chipped in with 10 points each. Horne paced SLU with five assists, while Pierre,
Cheyanne Daniels and
Lexi Alexander hauled in six rebounds each to allow the Lady Lions to finish with a 32-30 rebounding edge.
"Taylor had a great homecoming tonight and really gave us a spark off the bench," Guzzardo said. "Our entire post group did good work tonight and
Arianna Patton has really played good ball for us to start the season and stretches the defense with her outside shooting ability."
The story of the night was the Southeastern defense, however, which limited Louisiana Tech to 31.1 percent (14-for-45) shooting from the floor and forced 23 Lady Techster turnovers. Pierre, Bell and Patton each had two steals apiece for SLU.
"Defense is about effort, so that's something we should excel in consistently," Guzzardo said. "Our shots aren't always going to be falling, but we can control our defensive intensity night in and night out."
Robyn Lee led all scorers with 17 points for Louisiana Tech. She was joined in double figures by teammate Jianna Morris, who chipped in 12. Isla Airey hauled in eight rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech.
Southeastern set the early tone with a game-opening 10-0 run and held Louisiana Tech to 16.7 percent (4-for-24) shooting from the floor in the opening half. The Lady Lions went into the break with a 28-14 advantage.
Louisiana Tech flipped the script in the third quarter, outscoring SLU, 19-8, in the period to head into the final quarter trailing, 36-33.
Neither team could pull away in the fourth period, as a Lee layup pulled Louisiana Tech within, 48-47, with 1:51 left. On the next possession, Horne found Patton open in the left corner for a wide-open three that gave SLU a 51-47 advantage with 1:21 remaining.
After Bell drew a charge on the next Louisiana Tech trip, then Horne sliced into the lane for a layup and put SLU up, 53-47, with 43 seconds left. From there, Pierre (4-for-4) and Bell (2-for-2) combined to ice the game from the free-throw line.
Southeastern will close out its road swing at the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. SLU opens tournament play with a 5 p.m. contest Friday versus Quinnipiac. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on 90.9 The Lion. Streaming audio of 90.9 The Lion broadcasts is available online, at
www.LionSports.net/ListenLive or
www.LionUpRadio.org, or through the following apps - Lions' Gameday, TuneIn and MyTuner Radio.
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.
