COMMERCE, Texas – The reigning Southland Conference champions Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team withstood Texas A&M-Commerce with a 72-61 victory on the road to press on to 10-1 in conference Thursday evening.
Southeastern (14-8, 10-1 SLC) secured the win over Texas A&M-Commerce (10-11, 5-6 SLC) through a dominant 29-point lead in the first half led by
Jalencia Pierre,
Taylor Bell and
Allasia Washington all tied with 12 points.
Junior transfer
Cheyanne Daniels (seven points) led the team with 10 rebounds alongside Bell who also dished out three assists to lead the team. Southeastern's bench contributed to the balanced scoring with 36 added points.
The Lady Lions continue to make their presence known in the paint with a 36-20-point advantage over A&M-Commerce. SLU has outscored conference opponents in paint production in 11 games this season.
Southeastern took control of the contest with an 8-0 run fueled by junior Makenzie Thomas (seven points) and Daniels to give the Lady Lions a commanding 26-5-point lead to end the first quarter. SLU continued to extend its lead in the second quarter with a 21-13-point advantage over the Lions, 47-18.
SLU forced A&M-Commerce into 18 turnovers, though two players for the Lions finished the night in double-digit scoring. Mia Deck scored 17 points with two steals to cause Southeastern trouble throughout the matchup. Mary Delgado (12 points) missed the first conference matchup (Jan. 20) against Southeastern due to injury, but proved to be a spark for Texas A&M-Commerce off the bench. Jordyn Newsome and Jordan Beaty both chipped in nine points while Beaty also led the team with 12 rebounds, five coming from offensive boards.
A&M-Commerce fought back in the third quarter with its best 8-point scoring run to slowly cut into the deficit. The Lady Lions would gain a 30-point lead early in the third quarter, but Texas A&M-Commerce would turn the tables to win the third quarter with a 20-9-point advantage over Southeastern, 56-38.
The Lions moved on to win the fourth quarter as well with a 23-16-point advantage to cut SLU's lead down to five points midway in the quarter. A&M-Commerce came back into the game capitalizing off a 27-12-point advantage off points from turnovers. Texas A&M-Commerce collected 16-points off fast breaks, but a poor shooting night of 27.9 percent from the field would get them no closer.
Southeastern gained 13 points off second chance opportunities and out rebounded the Lions 59-38 to end the contest. SLU finished the evening shooting 36.9 percent from the field and 69.6 percent from the free throw line. The Lady Lions weathered Texas A&M-Commerce's second half run to further strengthen their position at the top of the conference.
SLU will remain on the road to face Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the Prather Coliseum. Saturday's matchup 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.
