Lady Lions protect home court against McNeese

HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference champions Southeastern Louisiana University women’s basketball team sweep McNeese 80-69 to protect its home court progressing to 9-1 in conference play Saturday afternoon.

Junior guard Taylor Bell led all scorers with 20 points and eight rebounds to aid Southeastern (13-8, 9-1 SLC) in the win with a 17-point spark late into the third quarter over McNeese (4-19, 0-10 SLC).

Graduate transfer Kennedy Paul (17 points) contributed a second half spark for the Lady Lions shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from the stripe. Senior Hailey Giaratano (12 points) shot 6-6 from the free throw line and has collected 16 games in double-digit scoring this season. Junior transfer Mackenzie Thomas earned a career high of 12 points with five rebounds while Jalencia Pierre led the team with six assists.

Southeastern’s depth added in balanced scoring in the second half of the contest with 46 points deriving from bench production. The Lady Lions continue to dominate in the paint with a 42-30-point advantage in paint points.

SLU came out to a slow start in the first quarter gaining a one-point lead over the Cowgirls, 19-18. McNeese continued to fight in the second quarter capitalizing off easy points at the free throw line shooting 85.7 percent to end the first half down by seven points, 43-36.

The Lady Lions turned up their defensive pressure in the second half forcing the Cowgirls into 12 turnovers, though three players finished the afternoon in double-digit scoring. Julia Puente Valverde (19 points) secured a double-double with 10 rebounds coming off the bench. Emilia Tenbrock and Mireia Yespes tied with 17 points in the contest. Yespes’ versatility caused trouble for the Lady Lions as she shot 90.0 percent from the line while Tenbrock carried McNeese’s momentum from the three-point line shooting 3-4 from beyond the arch. Freshman Azjah Reeves (five points) led the team with five assists.

Southeastern returned from halftime earning its biggest 17-point lead in the game to gain a 20-10-point advantage in the third quarter, 63-46. McNeese would go on an eight-point scoring run late in the fourth quarter, but would get no closer to chipping away at Southeastern’s lead.

The Lady Lions will be on the road for week six of conference play to take on Texas A&M-Commerce Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. before matching up against Northwestern State Saturday afternoon in Natchitoches for a 1 p.m. tipoff. Both games will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive.

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.