Women’s Hoops: Southeastern tops Alcorn, 69-58, to earn first road win

LORMAN, Miss. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women’s basketball team picked up its first road win of the season, 69-58, over Alcorn State in nonconference action Friday night in the Davey L. Whitney Complex.

The win was the second straight for the Lady Lions and the team’s first away from home (2-2). Alcorn State fell to 0-3 overall this season.

“Any win on the road is a good win,” Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo said. “Our defense is something we need to travel with us. We’re not going the shoot the ball well in every gym, but defense is all about effort and we should be consistent every time out on that side of the court.”

Chrissy Brown came off the bench to lead SLU with 16 points, marking the fourth different Lady Lion to pace the team in scoring in as many games. Breonca Ducksworth chipped in with 12 points, while also dishing out a game-high five assists.

“We consider our depth one of the strengths of our team,” Guzzardo commented. “Tonight it was Chrissy’s night, but we’ve had different players step up every game. We have a lot of different options, which is forcing everyone to raise their game to ensure they stay on the court.”

Hailey Giaratano and Caitlyn Williams led Southeastern with seven rebounds apiece, as the Lady Lions finished with a 43-32 rebounding advantage.

Diamond Hall led Alcorn State with 14 points, while Kailyn Watkins added 13. Akriale Ford grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lady Braves.

Southeastern took control of the game in the latter part of the second quarter, as the Lady Lions closed the half with a 12-3 run to head into the break with a 31-21 advantage. SLU would grow the lead to as much as 19 in the second half, as Alcorn never cut the game under double digits for the remainder of the contest.

Southeastern 69 (2-2)
Carrier 1-5 0-0 2, Williams 2-7 0-0 4, Kelly 3-4 2-2 8, Ducksworth 2-2 8-9 12, Giaratano 3-15 3-3 9, Cunningham 2-4 2-2 7, Brown 6-6 2-2 16, Harvey 1-6 1-1 4, Bell 3-7 0-2 7, Horne 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 18-21 69.

Alcorn State (0-3)
Ford 3-10 1-4 7, McCalphia 4-6 0-0 9, Obillo 1-5 0-0 2, Hall 6-12 0-0 14, Wright 1-6 0-0 3, Griffin 0-3 0-0 0, Watkins 4-8 2-4 13, Rascoe 1-2 1-2 3, Broughton 0-0 0-0 0, White 2-5 1-2 5, Claytor 0-3 0-0 0, Stewart 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 22-60 7-14 58.

End of 1st Quarter – SLU 16, ASU 12. Halftime – SLU 31, ASU 21. End of 3rd Quarter – SLU 49, ASU 35. 3-point goals – SLU 5-14 (Brown 2-2, Harvey 1-5, Bell 1-2, Cunningham 1-1, Carrier 0-2, Giaratano 0-2), ASU 7-24 (Watkins 3-5, Hall 2-6, Wright 1-5, McCalphia 1-1, Claytor 0-2, Obillo 0-2, Ford 0-1, Rascoe 0-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out – None. Rebounds – SLU 43 (Williams, Giaratano 7), ASU 32 (Ford 9). Assists – SLU 12 (Ducksworth 5), ASU 11 (Rascoe 3). Total Fouls – SLU 13, ASU 15. A – 111.

SLU will return home to host UL Lafayette on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the University Center in a game that will be televised on ESPN+. Presleigh Scott and Dijone’ Flowers will be Wednesday’s Spotlight Players of the Game and the first 150 fans will receive trading cards featuring the Southeastern freshmen duo, courtesy of PRIDE.

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