No. 3 Sam Houston holds off No. 2 SLU in Southland women’s semifinal thriller

KATY, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana senior guard Morgan Carrier’s game-winning attempt at the buzzer missed the mark, as the Lady Lions came up on the wrong end of a 79-77 decision to Sam Houston in a thrilling Southland Conference Tournament semifinal Saturday afternoon at the Merrell Center.

Southeastern, which had earned the No. 2 seed – its highest-ever – fell just short in its first postseason game in nine years and finished the season with an 11-8 overall record. The winning mark was the first for SLU since 2008-09. Sam Houston (15-7) advances to face top-seeded Stephen F, Austin in Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship game.

Carrier led a season-high five Lady Lions in double figures with 16 points. Carrier’s fellow All-Southland performer Hailey Giaratano added 15 points, while Breonca Ducksworth (13 points), Chrissy Brown (13 points) and Cierria Cunningham (10 points) were the other top scorers.

Caitlyn Williams added eight points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Lady Lions. Cunningham led all players with six assists.

Southland Conference Player of the Year Amber Leggett and fellow All-Southland teammate Faith Cook shared game-high honors with 23 points apiece for the Bearkats. Sam Houston’s Courtney Cleveland and Madelyn Batista chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

SLU controlled things for the majority of the first half, taking a 32-21 lead on a three-point play by Carrier with 7:04 remaining in the second quarter. However, the Bearkats came back with a 19-7 run to close the half and took a 40-39 advantage into the break.

SHSU outscored Southeastern, 21-13, in the third quarter to take a 61-52 advantage into the final period. A pair of Cook free throws pushed the Bearkat lead to 63-52 early in the fourth quarter.

However, the Lady Lions would not go away, showing the fight it displayed throughout a unique 2020-21 season. Southeastern tied it up on a three-point point play by Carrier with 2:38 left in the contest.

Leggett answered with a bucket, but Giaratano tied it up with a tough shot in the paint. Batista gave the Bearkats the lead with 1:34 remaining, but Giaratano again answered with a tying shot with 1:18 left.

Cook drew a foul on Cunningham on the next trip and netted both free throws to put Sam Houston back on top. Once again, the Lady Lions put it in the hot hands of Giaratano, who sank a bucket with 36 seconds left to knot the score at 77-77.

On the next SHSU trip, Cook made a driving layup to put the Bearkats ahead, 79-77, with 12.1 seconds remaining. Southeastern had one last try, but Carrier’s three from well behind the arc fell short.

The tough loss ended a breakthrough season for the Lady Lions and was the first step in what can only be described as an extremely bright future under head coach Ayla Guzzardo. With the 2020-21 season not counting against any of the student-athletes’ eligibility, SLU is expected to have all of its top contributors back. The Lady Lions will also return 2019-20 Southland Freshman of the Year Alexius Horne after the Baton Rouge, Louisiana native missed all of 2020-21 after recovering from an injury.

Sam Houston 79 (15-7)
Leggett 10-14 3-3 23, Cleveland 6-14 1-4 13, Batista 5-8 2-2 12, Cook 5-14 10-12 23, Jefferson 1-4 0-0 2, Williams 3-9 0-1 6, Young 0-0 0-0 0, Ezimako 0-0 0-0 0, Kemp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 16-22 79.
Southeastern Louisiana 77 (11-8)
Carrier 5-14 6-6 16, Williams 3-5 2-2 8, Kelly 0-5 2-2 2, Ducksworth 6-11 1-1 13, Giaratano 7-13 0-0 15, Brown 5-7 3-4 13, Cunningham 5-6 0-0 10, Harvey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 14-15 77.
End of 1st Quarter – SLU 23, SHSU 17. Halftime – SHSU 40, SLU 39. End of 3rd Quarter – SHSU 61, SLU 52. 3-point goals – SHSU 3-9 (Cook 3-6, Leggett 0-1, Jefferson 0-1, Williams 0-1), SLU 1-11 (Giaratano 1-4, Carrier 0-5, Williams 0-1, Cunningham 0-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – Ducksworth. Rebounds – SHSU 35 (Leggett 9), SLU 32 (Williams 8). Assists – SHSU 9 (Leggett, Cook 3), SLU 9 (Cunningham 6). Total Fouls – SHSU 17, SLU 18. A – 640.

2020-21 Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament
March 10-14, 2021 – Merrell Center – Katy, Texas

First Round – Wednesday, March 10
Game 1 – No. 8 Houston Baptist 74, No. 9 McNeese 60
Game 2 – No. 7 Abilene Christian 81, No. 10 UIW 70

Second Round – Thursday, March 11
Game 3 – No. 5 Central Arkansas 56, Houston Baptist 51
Game 4 – No. 6 Nicholls 67, Abilene Christian 57

Third Round – Friday, March 12
Game 5 – Central Arkansas 69, No. 4 Lamar 55
Game 6 – No. 3 Sam Houston 89, Nicholls 59

Semifinals – Saturday, March 13
Game 7 – No. 1 Stephen F. Austin 55, Central Arkansas 47
Game 8 – Sam Houston 79, No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana 77

Championship – Sunday, March 14
1 p.m. – Game 9 – Stephen F. Austin vs. Sam Houston (CBS Sports Network)