HAMMOND, La. –  The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball head coach Ayla Guzzardo makes program history alongside Alexius Horne and Jalencia Pierre earning multiple all-conference awards, as announced by the Southland Conference office Saturday afternoon.

 

Eighth year head coach Ayla Guzzardo was named SLC Coach of the Year after a historic regular season for Southeastern. SLU ended the regular season with its best record under Guzzardo, standing 25-4 overall and 19-1 in conference play. The Hammond, La. native is the only coach since the Lady Lions have been a member of the Southland to secure five consecutive seasons with 10 or more conference wins. She has also brought the program to new heights with the longest winning streak in Lady Lion basketball history with 19 straight wins.

 

"Being Coach of the Year is always a great accomplishment," stated Coach Guzzardo. "To be able to lead this amazing group of young women and hard-working coaching staff has been a blessing since I stepped foot on campus. Our league is tough, so this is definitely an honor."

 

Guzzardo is the first head coach of the program to earn the award twice within her tenure, after receiving the award in the 2022-23 season. Southeastern claimed its first outright regular season title and earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SLC tournament championship. Under Guzzardo's guidance, SLU earned its first appearance in the Women's Mid Major Top 25 poll in program history for six consecutive weeks while also tying for the most conference wins in Southland Conference history. Guzzardo received her 100th career win with a victory over Louisiana Tech to later secure her first road win over SFA, and regular season win over Lamar.

 

Alexius Horne was named SLC Player of the Year, the first in program history to claim the award, after phenomenal performances throughout the regular season to consistently lead Southeastern in scoring. The Baton Rouge, La. native was also named a First Team All-Conference selection,  averaging 14.7 points per game, 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists this season. The veteran is additionally the only to claim two First Team All-Conference honors throughout her career after also being the first Lady Lion to claim Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2020.

 

"Alexius' hard work through so much adversity shows her resilience as a captain and leader of our team," commented Guzzardo.

 

Horne posted 23 games in double figures this season, averaging only 27.5 minutes per game, to lead the conference in field goal percentage (46.0) and rank fourth in scoring. The graduate student closed out 10 games shooting 50.0 percent or higher from the field while also claiming a career high five made three-pointers against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and HCU. Horne currently ranks 14th in the program in career scoring and reached 1,000 career points in the victory over Lamar at home.

 

Jalencia Pierre earned Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year, for the second consecutive season. Pierre is the first Lady Lion to claim the honor twice in her career, in addition to being selected to Second Team All-Conference and the All-Defensive Team. The junior guard averaged 7.8 points per game, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds. 

 

"What Jalencia can do on the defensive end, I've seen nothing like it," said Guzzardo. "She is a pest on the ball, no matter her opponent, and she always has confidence in herself."

 

The Springfield, La. native stepped up for Southeastern on both ends of the floor as an elite on-ball defender while recording 12 games in double figures this season. Pierre led the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.48) while also standing third in assists (3.93) and steals (2.07). The floor general finished 12 games with five or more assists, three games with five or more steals, and eight games with five or more rebounds at her stature. As the spark plug for SLU's defense, Pierre helped the Lady Lions to rank fifth in the nation in points allowed this season, as well as lead the conference in scoring defense, steals (11.34), turnover margin (+7.90), and assist/turnover ratio (1.03).

 

"Both players have made an impact when they stepped foot on our campus," stated Guzzardo. "They both lead on and off the court, and to watch them develop into Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year has been a joy to watch."

 

Southeastern (25-4, 19-1 SLC) holds the No.1 seed in the 2025 Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Basketball Championships presented by Explore Louisiana. The Lady Lions will begin their tournament run in Lake Charles, La. Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in the Legacy Center, after securing a two-game bye. SLU will await the winner of Northwestern State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Monday before playing against the winner of UIW and Monday's game. All games through the semifinals will be televised on ESPN+ with the championship game set to be aired on ESPNU.

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
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