Williams’ buzzer beater sinks Bearkats in 68-67 victory

HAMMOND, La. – Welcome back, Caitlyn Williams.

Making her 2020-21 season debut, Williams buried a shot at the buzzer to give Southeastern Louisiana a thrilling 68-67 victory over Sam Houston in Southland Conference women’s basketball action Wednesday night in the University Center.

The senior from Brusly, Louisiana missed the season’s first 11 games while rehabbing from a torn meniscus. Her return came just in time for the Lady Lions (6-6, 5-4 Southland) who won their final regular season matchup with the Bearkats (9-6, 5-4 Southland) as league rivals.

“Caitlyn’s worked so hard to get back to playing,” Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo commented. “She took a little while to get going tonight, but she was big for us down the stretch.”

The win on Wednesday night helped Southeastern secure its first season series sweep of SHSU since the 2003-04 season. SLU led throughout the first half, but buoyed by the league’s leading scorer, Amber Leggett, the Bearkats roared back in a back-and-forth second half that featured seven ties and 10 lead changes.

With the game tied at 66, Sam Houston’s Jacquelyn Lavay drew a shooting foul on a three-point attempt with 2.8 seconds remaining. Lavay made the third of three attempts from the foul line to give the Bearkats a 67-66 lead.

On the final possession, Cierria Cunningham lobbed a pass towards SLU center Natalie Kelly. Kelly couldn’t handle the pass, but Williams was right there to corral the loose ball and put in the game winner from just outside the paint.

“This was a complete team effort tonight,” Guzzardo said. “We worked hard during the bye week and I was very pleased with how hard we fought for the win.”

Hailey Giaratano led Southeastern with 14 points and five assists, while Morgan Carrier added 13 points in her eighth consecutive double-digit scoring performance. Kelly and Chrissy Brown narrowly missed double-doubles scoring nine points each to go with 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively.

After being held scoreless in a foul-plagued first half, Leggett exploded for a game-high 22 points after the break to lead Sam Houston. Courtney Cleveland (14 points) and Faith Cook (12 points) joined Leggett in double figures.

Up Next
Southeastern will close out its six-game home stand on Saturday, hosting Nicholls for a 5 p.m. league contest. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio and Lions Game Day Experience apps.

Caitlyn Williams is Saturday’s Spotlight Player of the Game. The first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Brusly, Louisiana native courtesy of PRIDE.

Sam Houston 67 (9-6, 5-4 SLC)
Leggett 9-17 4-5 22, Cleveland 6-14 2-7 14, Williams 4-10 0-1 8, Cook 4-11 3-8 12, Jefferson 1-4 0-0 2, Batista 1-2 0-0 2, Levay 0-1 1-3 1, Kemp 0-0 2-4 2, Young 1-2 2-2 4, Ezimako 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 14-30 67.
Southeastern Louisiana 68 (6-6, 5-4 SLC)
Carrier 4-10 4-4 13, Kelly 4-9 1-2 9, Cunningham 0-6 1-2 1, Ducksworth 2-7 1-3 5, Giaratano 5-10 4-4 14, Williams 3-4 0-0 6, Brown 3-7 2-6 9, Harvey 3-6 0-0 8, Bradford 0-1 3-4 3. Totals 24-60 16-25 68.
End of 1st Quarter – SLU 16, SHSU 9. Halftime – SLU 35, SHSU 27. End of 3rd Quarter – SLU 48, SHSU 48. 3-point goals – SHSU 1-10 (Cook 1-5, Williams 0-3, Leggett 0-2), SLU 4-11 (Harvey 2-4, Carrier 1-4, Brown 1-1, Giaratano 0-2). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – Batista, Brown. Rebounds – SHSU 40 (Jefferson 7), SLU 41 (Kelly 12). Assists – SHSU 0, SLU 12 (Giaratano 5). Total Fouls – SHSU 27, SLU 22. A – 317.