HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference champions Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team secured a 69-66 victory over New Orleans in the Pride Roofing University Center Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore guard Allasia Washington led Southeastern (17-9, 13-2 SLC) with 17 points and five rebounds to provide a spark off the bench against New Orleans (10-15, 7-8 SLC). Washington finished with a career high performance shooting 7-8 from the free throw line and 40.0 percent from the three-point line.
 
Graduate transfer Kennedy Paul (13 points) followed up with another consecutive game in double figures shooting 6-9 from the field and 50.0 percent from behind the arch. Arianna Patton (11 points) and Hailey Giaratano (10 points) fueled Southeastern in the second half while Giaratano and Jalencia Pierre also tied with five assists to lead the team.
 
Southeastern progressed to 13-2 in conference play after its bench contributed 34 points to close out the game. Dijone' Flowers iced two free throws with seconds left in overtime to assist the Lady Lions in defending its home court. SLU scored 24-points in the paint while gaining 16 points off playing in transition to earn an edge over New Orleans.
 
The Lady Lions came out to a hot start with a 10-4 run in the first quarter against the Privateers to collect an early lead, 14-10. New Orleans gained the upper hand in the second quarter with a 15-11-point advantage to close out the quarter with the lead going into halftime, 25-24.
 
The Privateers scored 28 points in the paint to obtain an advantage over the Lady Lions. Junior center Nora Francois (30 points) produced a career high double-double with 13 rebounds to cause trouble for Southeastern throughout the matchup. The Lady Lions had no answer as Francois shot 11-24 from the field and 85.7 percent from the stripe to dominate in post-production. DeArica Pryor (14 points) finished with eight rebounds, shooting 50.0 percent from the three-point line to give New Orleans a boost in crucial moments in the contest. Redshirt sophomore Jayla Kimbrough (12 points) also finished in double figures after a slow start in the first half to aid in keeping the matchup within reach.


Southeastern forced New Orleans into 21 turnovers to capitalize off 20 points, but the Privateers would secure an advantage in other categories. New Orleans out-rebounded SLU 54-42 in the game. The Privateers acquired an 11-6-point advantage off second chance opportunities to win the battle on the boards.
 
The Lady Lions came out with energy in the third quarter capturing a 12-9-point advantage to claim a three-point lead, 37-34. The Privateers fought back in the fourth quarter shooting 72.7 percent from the field to force the game into overtime with a 23-20-point advantage, 57-57. SLU would seal the game in overtime shooting 8-11 from the free throw line while exploiting New Orleans defense in transition.
 
Southeastern will begin week nine of league play on the road in a rematch against UIW Feb. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the McDermott Center. The Lady Lions will move on to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Mar. 2 at 1 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive.
 
 
 
 
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.
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