NACOGDOCHES, Tex. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team claimed a 68-61 victory over Stephen F. Austin Thursday evening in the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
Seniors
Alexius Horne and
Cheyanne Daniels returned for another dominant performance tied at 20 points to help Southeastern (11-3, 5-0 SLC) make a statement on the road and improve to 5-0 in Southland Conference play. Horne ended the game shooting nine-of-14 from the field and two-of-two from the three-point line to produce a spark for SLU behind the arch. Daniels finished with a solid night of production, shooting seven-of-14 from the field and six-of-six from the stripe to aid in the road win. The Miami, Fla. native also grabbed seven offensive rebounds to cause problems for Stephen F. Austin (13-3, 3-2 SLC) on the boards with nine rebounds, just one shy of her first double-double of the season.
Taylor Bell (12 points) followed up with her seventh game in double-figures this season with four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Junior
Jalencia Pierre (10 points) closed out the game with a season high eight assists against the Ladyjacks along with five rebounds and two steals. Pierre shot four-of-11 from the field and two-of-three from the charity stripe.
Southeastern earned its fifth win in league play after gaining 54 points in the paint, 26 points off turnovers and 15 points in transition to secure an edge over SFA on the road.
The Lady Lions came out to a hot start and jumped on the Ladyjacks early to earn a 25-19-point advantage in the first quarter. SLU extended its lead with back-to-back three-pointers from Horne and
Arianna Patton (eight points) as SFA worked to quickly recover on its home court. Trinity Moore (20 points) came out the gates ready for the Ladyjacks draining a three-pointer from downtown to create problems for Southeastern. The Lady Lions remained aggressive in the paint to earn 12 points in the paint in the first quarter alone and eight points off turnovers.
SFA returned to claim the upper hand in the second quarter with a 20-16-point edge as Faith Blackstone (19 points) took advantage of the opportunity to dominate on the offensive boards. The Ladyjacks gained some momentum early in the second quarter with a six-point run fueled by their drive to get to the free throw line and chip in easy points at the free throw line. Southeastern weathered the storm and fought to keep its lead going into halftime, 41-39.
The Ladyjacks continued to extend their momentum in the third quarter as Harmanie Dominguez (17 points) began to heat up from the three-point line. Southeastern sensing a turn of momentum worked to intensify its defensive pressure and forced SFA into five turnovers to gain nine points in the third quarter. SLU shot 40.9 percent from the field and 80.0 percent in the quarter to maintain its lead. SFA also capitalized off a few of Southeastern's defensive breakdowns to earn six points off fast break opportunities. Blackstone continued to provide the Ladyjacks with a boost as the graduate gained a double-double with 10 rebounds, shooting five-of-12 from the field and eight-of-12 from the free throw line.
Allasia Washington (five points) caused havoc on SFA's primary ball handlers with four steals and multiple forced jump balls to give Southeastern extra possessions offensively. SLU pulled ahead in the fourth quarter with a 24-19-point advantage over SFA as Horne carried the team in the end with multiple buckets off of her automatic one-dribble pull-up. The Lady Lions worked to dissect the Ladyjacks in their 2-3 zone and secure multiple opportunities to finish around the rim. Although SFA would end the night winning the battle on the boards with a 37-35 rebounding advantage, the Ladyjacks could not withstand Southeastern's defensive pressure late in the game.
Southeastern ended the evening shooting 48.6 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from the free throw line and 72.2 percent from the free throw line as Coach Guzzardo led SLU to its first win over SFA in her tenure with the program.
Southeastern will remain on the road traveling to New Orleans to face the Privateers Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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.
