Balanced Lady Lions attack fuels 103-47 exhibition win over SUNO

HAMMOND, La. – Five Southeastern Louisiana players scored in double figures, as the Lady Lions posted a dominant 103-47 exhibition victory over Southern-New Orleans Monday night in the University Center.

The Lady Lions were dominant in every phase in their final dress rehearsal before the 2019-20 regular season officially opens. Southeastern scored 33 points off 30 Lady Knight turnovers, while shooting 50.0 percent (36-for-72) from the floor. All 12 Lady Lions that played scored in a balanced effort.

“We were really pleased to see offensive contributions throughout our lineup,” Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo commented. “But what really excited me the most about tonight’s effort is what we were able to do on the defensive end. Not just that we were able to create turnovers, but we took advantage and scored off those turnovers.”

Returning All-Southland performer Celica Sterling led SLU with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Morgan Carrier (13 points), Breonca Ducksworth (12), Alexius Horne (12) and Jaylen Huderson (12). Sterling (5-for-8), Carrier (3-for-3) and Hailey Giaratano (2-for-3) all hit multiple three-point field goals, as SLU tore up the nets with a 13-for-26 shooting performance from behind the arc.

“We have improved our depth with the new faces we’ve added,” Guzzardo commented. “We want to press a lot more than we have in the past and to do that, we have to keep fresh bodies. We feel like we have a lot of different players who can contribute on any given night.”

Horne led SLU with five assists, while Carrier and Breonca Ducksworth each dished out four dimes. The Lady Lions won the rebounding battle, 45-31, as Giaratano and Horne grabbed a team-high seven rebounds each.

The Lady Lions finished the night with 15 steals, as Horne and Jyar Francis recorded three each. Francis, back on the court for the first time since Jan. 20, 2018, also blocked a pair of shots to fuel a stout SLU defensive effort that limited SUNO to 31.3 percent (15-for-48) shooting from the field.

Victoria Udecht led SUNO with 17 points, while Kennedy Moore pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Lady Knights.

Southeastern took a 26-9 lead after the opening quarter and never looked back. Leading 47-18 at halftime, SLU eventually grew the lead to as much as 56 on the way to the lopsided victory.

Though Monday’s game won’t count in the official statistics, it marked the first time the Lady Lions scored over 100 points since a 113-53 win over Millsaps on Dec. 19, 2009.

Up Next
Southeastern will officially open the 2019-20 season at Houston on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Southern-New Orleans 47
Udecht 5-15 7-10 17, Moore 2-6 3-6 7, Pettis 3-3 2-4 8, Wilkerson 1-7 0-0 3, Waters 2-0 2-4 7, Shelvin 0-3 1-2 1, Moody 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 15-48 15-26 47.
Southeastern Louisiana 103
Carrier 5-7 0-1 13, Sterling 6-10 0-0 17, Ducksworth 6-8 0-0 12, Horne 4-9 3-3 12, Jubril 0-0 4-4 4, Dugas 2-6 0-0 4, Giaratano 2-4 2-2 8, Rivers 1-3 3-4 5, Harvey 1-6 2-4 5, Adams 2-4 0-0 4, Huderson 4-11 3-5 12, Francis 3-4 1-2 7. Totals 36-72 18-25 103.
End of 1st Quarter – SLU 26, SUNO 9. Halftime – SLU 47, SUNO 18. End of 3rd Quarter – SLU 73, SUNO 30. 3-point goals – SUNO 2-14 (Waters 1-6, Wilkerson 1-5, Udecht 0-1, Shelvin 0-1, Moody 0-1), SLU 13-26 (Sterling 5-8, Carrier 3-3, Giaratano 2-3, Harvey 1-4, Huderson 1-4, Horne 1-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – Waters. Rebounds – SUNO 31 (Moore 11), SLU 45 (Horne, Giaratano 7). Assists – SUNO 8 (Moore 4), SLU 20 (Horne 5). Total Fouls – SUNO 24, SLU 23. A – 549.