Southeastern drops women’s hoops road opener at LSU

HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana held an eight-point second quarter lead, but LSU closed out the first half with a 19-1 run on the way to an 84-56 victory over the Lady Lions in non-conference women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU (1-1) forced the visiting Lady Lions (0-2) into 30 turnovers, scoring 35 points off Southeastern miscues. The turnovers, combined with a 44-23 Tiger rebounding advantage, allowed LSU to overcome the early SLU onslaught.

Senior guard Taylin Underwood led the Lady Lions with 18 points, moving past Amy Weir and Sharon Berry into 13th place on the school’s career scoring list with 1,094 points. With five three-point field goals in the game, the Livingston, Louisiana native is now seven treys away from becoming the school’s career leader in that category.

Underwood was joined in double figures by freshman forward Caitlyn Williams, who finished with 14 points. Junior guard Ashailee Brailey led SLU with four assists, while junior forward paced Lady Lions with six rebounds.

The SLU defense forced LSU into 18 turnovers. Caitlyn Williams led Southeastern with three steals, while Underwood and sophomore guard Tyler Morrison finished with two steals each.

Raigyne Louis led the Tigers with 21 points, 10 assists and five steals. Louis was joined in double figures by Chloe Jackson and Ayana Mitchell, who added 18 and 15 points, respectively.

Brailey, Underwood and Caitlyn Williams combined for seven three-point field goals in the game’s first 13 minutes. Underwood’s third trey of the contest gave SLU a 23-15 lead with 7:04 left in the second quarter.

LSU chopped into the Southeastern lead over the next several minutes with a Caitlyn Williams jumper pushing the Lady Lions ahead, 25-22, with 5:02 left in the opening half. However, that would be SLU’s last field goal of the half, as LSU closed out the period with a 19-1 run to take a 41-26 halftime lead.

LSU would grow the lead to as much as 34 in the final minutes. Back-to-back three-point plays by sophomore guard Courtney Dawsey and junior guard Jaclyn Scholvin helped cut the final margin to 84-58.

Southeastern will be back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Cincinnati for a 6 p.m. (Central) contest with the Bearkats. Live video and stats, provided by UC, will be accessible at www.LionSports.net.

Southeastern Louisiana 56 (0-2)
K. Williams 2-2 0-0 4, C. Williams 5-8 2-2 14, Underwood 5-14 3-4 18, Morrison 1-5 0-0 2, Brailey 2-6 0-0 6, Dawsey 1-2 1-1 3, Hall 0-1 1-2 1, Carrier 0-0 0-0 0, Dugas 2-6 1-2 5, Tate 0-0 0-0 0, Bush 0-0 0-0 0, Scholvin 1-3 1-1 3. Totals 19-47 9-12 56.
LSU 84 (1-1)
Mitchell 6-7 3-7 15, Aifuwa 4-5 0-0 8, Jackson 9-17 0-0 18, Louis 7-7 7-12 21, Richard-Harris 1-3 0-0 2, Norton 1-4 0-0 2, Pointer 3-3 2-4 9, Farley 1-2 3-4 5, Patterson 1-6 0-0 2, Bidikuindila 0-1 0-0 0, Cherry 1-9 0-0 2, Neubert 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-66 15-27 84.
End of 1st Quarter – SLU 17, LSU 15. Halftime – LSU 41, SLU 26. End of 3rd Quarter – LSU 70, SLU 42. 3-point goals – SLU 9-23 (Underwood 5-10, Brailey 2-5, C. Williams 2-2, Dugas 0-3, Scholvin 0-1), LSU 1-15 (Pointer 1-1, Patterson 0-5, Neubert 0-5, Jackson 0-3). Technical Fouls – None. Rebounds – SLU 23 (K. Williams 6), LSU 44 (Aifuwa, Louis 6). Assists – SLU 9 (Brailey 4), LSU 22 (Louis 10). Fouled Out – None. Total Fouls – SLU 22, LSU 21. A – 2,353.