LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team secured a dominant 82-56 victory over McNeese on the road Saturday afternoon in the Legacy Center.
Five Lady Lions in double figures contributed balanced scoring to improve to 2-0 in Southland Conference play over McNeese (5-7, 0-1 SLC). Veteran
Alexius Horne led all scorers with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists to aid Southeastern (8-3, 2-0 SLC) in the commanding win.
Junior transfer
Lexi Alexander (12 points) finished with a solid performance shooting 60.0 percent from the field with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Allasia Washington provided a spark off the bench for Southeastern with a season-high 11 points and six rebounds, shooting 3-5 from the field in 14 minutes.
Cheyanne Daniels (10 points) ended the game with a prolific performance, finishing 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the charity stripe.
Seniors
Taylor Bell and
Kaili Chamberlin tied with 10 points to also fuel SLU's momentum off the bench in the second half.
Jalencia Pierre led the team with four assists as the Lady Lions also gained 21 points off turnovers.
Southeastern came out to a great start with an 11-4-point advantage in the opening minutes over the Cowgirls to set the tone of the game. Horne and Alexander went to work early in the paint as a dynamic duo for the Lady Lions to gain an early lead. McNeese recovered midway in the first quarter due to seven second chance opportunities to bring the deficit within 11-points to close out the quarter, 24-13.
The Lady Lions turned up their defensive pressure in the second quarter to smother the Cowgirls during their offensive sets. Southeastern continued to assert their dominance in the paint with 12 paint points in the second quarter alone. SLU kept its foot on the gas as its bench chipped in nine points to add to its six-point-scoring midway in the quarter. McNeese fought to weather the storm and gained a spark of momentum in the final minutes of the first half with back-to-back buckets by Boston Berry (eight points).
SLU closed out the first half with a 42-28-point edge over the Cowgirls going into halftime. The Lady Lions gained a 28-10-point advantage in paint points and a 18-10-point edge in bench points over McNeese, shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the free throw line.
The Cowgirls returned from halftime with a chip on their shoulder as Mireia Yespes (10 points) bounced back to cause problems in the paint. The senior forward secured her third double-double with 10 rebounds in the contest. Sophomore Paris Guillory (13 points) also began to heat up from behind the arc, shooting 3-5 from the three-point line and 4-9 from the field to carry McNeese. The Cowgirls finally settled in the game with an eight-point scoring run midway in the third quarter to bring the game within seven-points. As McNeese seemed to be drawing near, Southeastern turned things up a notch and went on an 11-point scoring run to close out the third quarter 64-40.
Both teams entered the fourth quarter on a roll, but Washington continued to provide a spark for Southeastern with back-to-back buckets in transition. Yespes and Guillory worked to answer the call for the Cowgirls, but SLU continued to pull ahead to extend its lead. Azjah Reeves (eight points) and Boston Berry (eight points) remained aggressive and attacked the lane for McNeese to provide spurts of momentum, but the Lady Lions' bench proved to be a problem for the Cowgirls in the end.
McNeese would go on a four-point scoring run late in the fourth quarter, but would get no closer to chipping away at Southeastern's lead. SLU ended the afternoon with 50 points in the paint, 37 bench points and 15 second chance points to take care of business on the road. The Lady Lions finished the game shooting 51.6 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from the three-point line and 63.6 percent from the charity stripe.
Southeastern will return to the University Center to face new conference member UTRGV Jan. 2 at 6 p.m. Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans are encouraged to step into the new year with style and wear their freshest kicks in support of the Lady Lions as the Vaqueros visit Hammond, America.
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.
