SLU bounces back with 66-57 Southland road win at Nicholls

THIBODAUX, La. – Southeastern Louisiana rode its best defensive effort of the season to a 66-57 road victory over Nicholls Southland Conference women’s basketball action Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gymnasium.

The 57 points matched the lowest output Southeastern (4-16, 3-6 Southland) has allowed this season, as the Lady Lions earned their third victory in the past four games and won in Thibodaux for the first time since the 2011-12 season. SLU held Nicholls (8-12, 3-6 Southland) to 35.8 percent (19-for-53) shooting and forced 17 Colonel turnovers to extend the hosts’ losing streak to four games.

“We did an excellent job on the defensive end and that was the difference tonight,” Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo said. “Once we built the lead, we showed a lot of poise in maintaining our advantage. We didn’t take quick shots and took care of the ball. Wednesday was obviously a big disappointment, but I’m so proud of how our team kept working and bounced back from the loss (to Sam Houston State).”

A back-and-forth first half saw the Lady Lions take a 23-22 advantage into the halftime break. The third quarter saw Southeastern take control of the game. Nicholls took a 30-27 lead on a three by sophomore guard Tykeria Williams with 7:23 left in the period.

The rest of the period was all Lady Lions. Senior guard Taylin Underwood (seven points) and freshman forward Caitlyn Williams (six points) fueled an 18-4 run by SLU to close the quarter as Southeastern went into the final period with a 45-34 advantage.

Sophomore guard Charliee Dugas scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 13 points and SLU was able to maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the period.

A three by Nicholls junior guard Cassidy Barrios briefly cut the Southeastern lead back to single digits with just over three minutes remaining, but junior guard Ashailee Brailey iced the game with consecutive treys on back-to-back possessions.

“Ashailee was huge for us on both ends tonight,” Guzzardo commented. “She’s been having great practices and she helps us so much with her high basketball IQ.”

Underwood led SLU with a game-high 22 points and was joined in double figures by junior guard Jaclyn Scholvin (10 points). Caitlyn Williams and Brailey chipped in nine points each, while sophomore guard Tyler Morrison tied a career high with 11 rebounds.

“We’ve been our most successful this season when we share the ball and everyone is involved,” Guzzardo said. “We have to have contributions from everyone in order to win and we had that tonight.”

Barrios led three Colonels in double figures with 16 points to go with four assists, four blocks and three steals. Senior guard Tia Charles (14 points) and Tykeria Williams (11 points) were the other top scorers for Nicholls.

Saturday’s game was the first of two straight on the road for SLU. The Lady Lions will travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest with the Islanders. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.

Southeastern Louisiana 66 (4-16, 3-6 SLC)
C. Williams 4-4 1-4 9, Underwood 8-17 3-4 22, Scholvin 3-12 4-6 10, Morrison 1-3 3-4 5, Brailey 3-8 0-0 9, K. Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Dawsey 0-0 0-0 0, Carrier 2-4 2-4 7, Dugas 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 23-55 13-22 66.
Nicholls 57 (8-12, 3-6 SLC)
Lilly 0-2 2-4 2, T. Williams 4-18 0-0 11, Charles 4-11 3-6 14, Hamilton 3-6 0-0 6, Barrios 4-7 7-8 16, Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Heineman 0-0 0-0 0, P. Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Colins 3-5 0-2 6, Washington 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 19-53 12-20 57.
End of 1st Quarter – NICH 10, SLU 8. Halftime – SLU 23, NICH 22. End of 3rd Quarter – SLU 45, NICH 34. 3-point goals – SLU 7-20 (Underwood 3-7, Brailey 3-5, Carrier 1-2, Scholvin 0-5, Dugas 0-1), NICH 7-26 (T. Williams 3-13, Charles 3-7, Barrios 1-4, Hamilton 0-1, Wilson 0-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – None. Rebounds – SLU 41 (Morrison 11), NICH 32 (Barrios 7). Assists – SLU 12 (Morrison, Brailey 3), NICH 8 (Barrios 4). Total Fouls – SLU 19, NICH 19. A – n/a.