NATCHITOCHES, La. – The reigning Southland Conference champions Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team remains undefeated on the road to close out week six of conference play with a 59-51 victory over Northwestern State in Prather Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
Junior guard
Taylor Bell helped Southeastern (15-8, 11-1 SLC) withstand its road test over Northwestern State (9-14, 5-7 SLC) with a solid performance of 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
Reigning Southland Player of the Week
Hailey Giaratano followed up with 12 points shooting 100.0 percent from the free throw line.
Jalencia Pierre (11 points) also contributed double digit scoring for the Lady Lions shooting 7-8 from the strip alongside sophomore
Allasia Washington (10 points) finishing 5-10 from the field.
Southeastern continues to outscore conference opponents in the paint tying its season high of 42 points in the paint over the Lady Demons while also capitalizing 17 points off turnovers.
SLU controlled the first quarter of the contest with a 19-14-point advantage over Northwestern State after the Lady Demons gained their largest four-point lead in the contest. In the second quarter the Lady Lions and Northwestern State tied with a low scoring 8-8-point advantage to end the first half, 27-22.
The Lady Lions forced Northwestern State into 18 turnovers, though Sharna Ayres (14 points) and Karmelah Dean (13 points) finished in double-digit scoring to spark Northwestern State's momentum in the second half. Ayres collected a double-double securing 10 rebounds as well in the matchup while shooting 50.0 percent from the 3-point line. Dean shot 7-10 from the free throw line while leading the team with five assists. Northwestern State ended the game with a 42-35 edge over Southeastern on the boards, but the Lady Lions would dominate every over category.
Northwestern State went on a seven-point scoring run early in the third quarter to chip away at Southeastern's lead, tying with an 14-14-point advantage to close out the quarter 41-36. SLU held its lead in the fourth quarter taking advantage of easy points at the free throw line, shooting 89.5 percent to end the matchup, 59-51.
The Lady Lions exploited Northwestern State in transition scoring 22 points off fast breaks along with key reserves contributing 28 points off the bench. Southeastern has won six out of seven games on the road to claim its best program record of 11-1 in conference play this season. With only six games left in league play, SLU has already punched its ticket to the 2024 Jersey Mike's Southland Basketball Championships.
The Lady Lions will be back in the Pride Roofing University Center for a two game homestand to rematch against Lamar Thursday evening at 6 p.m. and HCU Saturday afternoon Feb. 17 at 1 p.m.
Jalencia Pierre (Feb. 15) and junior
Taylor Bell (Feb. 17) will be the Spotlight Players of the Week. The first 150 fans will receive trading cards of the junior, courtesy of PRIDE. Lady Lion Basketball is calling all Greeks to the rematch versus Lamar Thursday evening to participate in a halftime step show performance. For Saturday's matchup the Pride Roofing University Center invites all dads and daughters to join in making a pregame tunnel for the Lady Lions. Both matchups will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard online at
www.LionSports.net/ListenLive.
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.
