SLU hosts defending Southland champ AMCC to open league play

HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women’s basketball team will open Southland Conference play on Saturday at 1 p.m., hosting defending league champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the University Center.

The game between the Lady Lions (1-2) and the visiting Islanders (2-6) will air on ESPN+ and will also be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio and Lions Gameday Experience apps.

Bren’naisa Adams and Cierria Cunningham will be the Spotlight Players of the Game for the contest versus the Islanders. The first 100 fans will receive trading cards featuring the SLU duo, courtesy of PRIDE.

Saturday will also be Youth Day at the UC, as all young Lion fans 12 and under will receive free admission.

Southeastern will be back in action for the first time since a 70-54 loss at Tulane on Dec. 19. Armed with only seven available players, SLU played toe-to-toe with its in-state foes for the first three quarters. The Lady Lions, playing with no true post players, led the majority of the first half and went into the final quarter down by just two against a Tulane team that is picked to finish third in the American Conference.

Southeastern was able to neutralize Tulane’s size and depth advantage for the majority of the contest due in large part to an active defense. SLU forced 18 Green Wave turnovers, as Breonca Ducksworth and Hailey Giaratano each recorded a game-high three steals.

On the other end, Morgan Carrier led Southeastern with 18 points and three assists, while Jaylen Huderson chipped in with a career-high 10 points off the bench. Chrissy Brown led SLU with seven rebounds.

Giaratano leads SLU with 11.0 points per game. Carrier (10.3 ppg) and Ducksworth (10.0 ppg) join Giartano in double figures, while Cunningham (9.7 ppg) and Bryana Langford (9.0 ppg) round out a balanced top five for a Lady Lion roster that is averaging 74.0 points per game.

Cunningham leads Southeastern with 2.1 assists per contest, while Carrier, Giaratano and Langford have all hit five three-point field goals apiece. Brown’s 6.3 rebounds per game paces the squad.

The Islanders will be seeing the court for the first time since Dec. 16, when they dropped a 56-46 decision at Texas State. Prior to that, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earned wins over St. Edward’s and Concordia (TX), shaking off an 0-5 start to the season.

Alecia Westbrook leads the way for the visitors, averaging a team-high 13.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest. Newcomer Paige Allen joins Westbrook in double figures with 11.3 points per game.

The two league rivals will be meeting for the 19th time on Saturday with the Islanders holding an 11-7 advantage in the all-time series. Last season, each team won on their respective home courts. Southeastern has won the last two contests played in Hammond.

The Lady Lions are 5-18 all-time in Southland Conference openers. SLU has opened the last four seasons with a loss in the league opener and last won its first conference game, 65-56, over Stephen F. Austin in 2015-16.

Up Next: Following Saturday’s conference opener, SLU will play its next three league contests away from home. The road swing starts on Wednesday with a 6:30 p.m. game at Sam Houston State. The contest between the Lady Lions will be televised on ESPN+.

Tickets: For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.

Social Media: For more information on Southeastern Women’s Basketball, follow @LionUpWBB on Twitter, like /SoutheasternWBB on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.