HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team defeated Northwestern State 65-58 Thursday evening in the University Center to claim the 2025 Southland Conference Regular Season Title.
Southeastern (23-3, 17-0 SLC) locked the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 2025 Jersey Mike's SLC Basketball Championship March 10-13 with its 7-point victory over Northwestern State (12-13, 9-7 SLC).
Alexius Horne carried Southeastern and led all scorers with 23 points and two steals to help SLU in the win. The veteran finished with an exceptional performance in the second half, shooting eight-of-17 from the field, two-of-five from the three-point line and five-of-eight from the free throw line.
Jalencia Pierre (14 points) followed up in double figures in the win to help the Lady Lions sweep the Lady Demons at home. Pierre finished the game with five assists and led the team with seven rebounds, shooting five-of-14 from the field and four-of-five from the charity stripe.
SLU closed out the game with 30 points in the paint, 16 fast break points, and 14 points off second chance opportunities over Northwestern State. Southeastern forced the Lady Demons into 14 turnovers to finish shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from behind the arch and 76.5 percent from the stripe.
Both teams came out to a slow start as the Lady Lions worked to fuel an early run in the first quarter, but couldn't get into a groove.
Arianna Patton (six points) broke the ice from the three-point line to produce a spark for Southeastern. Sharna Ayres (17 points) led Northwestern State and battled early to obtain an offensive spark on the road. Both teams continued to go back and forth as neither team could produce a consistent scoring run to close out the quarter.
Allasia Washington chipped in a last-minute bucket at the end of the first quarter off an offensive rebound to put the Lady Lions' up 14-10.
Southeastern held its lead in the second quarter over Northwestern State to obtain a 10-4-point advantage in paint points. The Lady Lions' defense stepped up in the quarter to force the Lady Demons' leading ball handler, Mya Blake (13 points), into five turnovers. SLU picked things up midway in the second quarter to go on a six-point scoring run, but Blake and Ayres countered back late to close the first half down by five points. Southeastern ended the second quarter 25-20, shooting 28.6 percent from the field, 16.7 percent from the three-point line and 66.7 percent from the stripe.
The Lady Lions returned from the halftime break with a different mentality to open the third quarter as Pierre came alive in the second half to quickly help achieve a scoring run. The junior guard converted on back-to-back buckets in transition as Northwestern State could not contain her with seven points in the quarter alone. SLU gained a 21-20-point edge in the third quarter as both teams battled to keep the game within reach. Southeastern shifted its focus to become aggressive on the boards as the team worked to secure six points off second chance opportunities. The Lady Demons continued to rely on their top contributors as the tide of momentum began to turn in their favor to earn six points off the Lady Lions' turnovers. Vernell Atamah (15 points) came alive to add in points in the paint for the visitors, but
Lexi Alexander (eight points) silenced the Lady Demons at the end of the third quarter to stay in front, 46-40.
Horne stepped for SLU with 12 points in the fourth quarter alone to extend its lead early. Northwestern State continued to put up a fight, but Southeastern's balanced scoring helped to build a 10-point lead late. The Lady Lions earned an 19-18-point advantage to close out the fourth quarter as they ended the quarter shooting 61.5 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from the three-point line. Southeastern's defense held the Lady Demons to 35.5 percent from the field and 14.3 percent from the charity stripe.
The Lady Lions will return on the road for their last two conference games of the season to face UTRGV Thursday, Feb. 27 at 12 p.m. Southeastern will move on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Thursday'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.
