HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference Tournament regular season champion Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team will officially open the 2025-26 season under first-year head coach Jeff Dow Monday, when it welcomes Centenary for an 11 a.m. contest in the University Center.
 
Monday is the annual Field Trip game and local school students are invited to attend. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
 
Freshman guard Lihi Azouri is Monday's Spotlight Player of the Game. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Herzilya, Gush Dan, Israel native courtesy of PRIDE.
 
Southeastern fans will be treated to a whole new-look team under Dow, as all 13 members of the Lady Lion roster are newcomers to SLU. Southeastern offered a sneak-peek Tuesday, outscoring Millsaps, 42-27, in the second half on the way to a 69-54 exhibition victory over the Majors.  
 
Azouri led three SLU players in double figures with 16 points, while Aliyah Collins added 15 for the Lady Lions. Eryn McKinzie chipped in with 14 points to go with a team-high 10 rebounds in a double-double effort. Taylor Ross narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds, while Mia Ramos also added eight points.
 
Southeastern finished with 12 assists versus just 11 turnovers, as McKinzie and Natalie Huff dished out three assists apiece. The Lady Lions forced Millsaps into 16 turnovers with Collins (two steals) and Fatime Seck (two blocks) leading the Lady Lion defensive effort.
 
SLU will be welcoming a Centenary team that has a first-year head coach of its own. Former Southern men's basketball assistant Rennie Bailey has taken over a Ladies' team that posted a 2-22 record in 2024-25. Nevaeh Rivera, who averaged 10.0 points per game as a freshman, is the top returner for Centenary.
 
Following Monday's home opener, the Lady Lions will play their next three games on the road, starting Thursday with a 7 p.m. game at No. 5 LSU. Thursday's game will be televised on SEC Network+ and can be heard on KSLU 90.9 The Lion.
 
Fans have the opportunity to bid on a VIP trip to the LSU game, parking passes and floor seats to the game or a framed signed SLU women's basketball jersey. All proceeds benefit the Lion Up Collective. To bid, visit https://bit.ly/LionUpCollectiveWBBAuction. Bids will be taken through Monday.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Women's Basketball, follow @LionUpWBB on X and Instagram or like /SoutheasternWBB on Facebook.
 
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.