HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team secured its first win of the 2024-25 season with a 79-45 victory over Millsaps Monday evening in the University Center.
Senior guard
Taylor Bell helped Southeastern (1-0) record a 34-point lead against Millsaps with a solid performance of 15 points, shooting 5-7 from the field and 71.4 percent from the free throw line.
Seniors
Alexius Horne and
Cheyanne Daniels each followed up with 14 points for the Lady Lions to contribute to its second half surge. Horne finished the game with three assists, three steals, and shooting 6-13 from the field. Daniels showed up big in the second half of the contest shooting 8-9 from the stripe. Daniels and Nicholls transfer
Lexi Alexander (nine points) also tied to lead the team in rebounding with nine boards.
Arianna Patton (11 points) also contributed double digit scoring for the Lady Lions shooting 45.5 percent from the field to make an impact over the Lady Demons.
Southeastern came out to a 4-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game, but fell into an offensive slump as the quarter progressed. Millsaps cut into the deficit with new found aggression as it capitalized off the Lady Lions mistakes. The Majors hustled to win the majority of the 50/50 balls to secure extra possessions offensively. Millsaps closed the lead to end the first quarter down by four-points, 17-13.
Millsaps continued to gain some momentum going into the second quarter led by Whitney Novak (10 points). Novak led the Majors in scoring with double figures to produce a spark from behind the three-point line shooting 50.0 percent. Novak alongside sophomore Garin Freeman (seven points) carried Millsaps in the second quarter to gain a 11-8-point advantage over the Lady Lions before the halftime break. Southeastern held a one-point to end the second quarter 25-24.
SLU returned with a different intensity in the opening of the third quarter as it forced Millsaps into 29 turnovers and gained 43-points off the Major's mistakes. Southeastern picked up the pace of the game and claimed a dominant 18-2-point edge in fast break opportunities off 16 steals led by Horne and freshman
Tyreona Sibley (seven points).
The Lady Lions returned to its strong suit and earned 50-points in the paint over the Majors and 14-points off second chance opportunities. Southeastern's defense also tightened up in the second half to hold Millsaps to only seven points the entire third quarter, 51-31. The Majors continued to showcase great effort with spurts of momentum with three-pointers from Tia Anderson and Emily Adams, but Southeastern continued to take advantage of its size in the paint.
Millsaps fought to cut into the deficit as Haley Franklin (seven points) came alive in the fourth quarter. The Majors continued to be relentless on the boards led by Elyse Warren (four points) with seven rebounds to gain Millsaps extra possessions. As the Lady Lions turned up their defense to another level, the Majors could not handle the pressure with multiple turnovers. Southeastern exploited Millsaps in the fourth quarter with its biggest 39-point lead late in the game.
The Lady Lions back-to-back fast break opportunities that shifted the entire momentum midway in the fourth quarter. Horne gained two three-point opportunities with solid finishes in transition as Southeastern extended its lead. SLU forced Millsaps to shoot 39.1 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from the three-point line. The Lady Lions closed out the game with a 45-28 edge over Millsaps on the boards to secure its 79-45 victory.
Southeastern will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for its first road test to face No. 23 Nebraska Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Saturday's game will be streamed on the BIG10+ network. Live stats can be accessed on the women's basketball schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
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.
