HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women’s basketball team will look to get back to .500 in Southland Conference play on Wednesday, when it travels to Texas State for a 7 p.m. contest at Strahan Coliseum.
The Lady Lions (9-11, 3-4 Southland) and Bobcats (4-14, 0-7 Southland) will be meeting for the first and only time this season and Wednesday’s game will be start a stretch that will see Southeastern meet Southland West Division opponents in three of its next four games. Wednesday’s game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net. Live stats will be available at www.txstatebobcats.com.
Southeastern is coming off a 60-49 victory over Nicholls on Saturday in the University Center. Sophomore guard
Amber Crenshaw scored a career-high 14 points off the bench, while junior guard
Chelsea Hix netted 12 points. Senior post
Zevy Ivory recorded her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore guard
Kelli Jenkins led the Lady Lions in assists for the 16th time this season with five dimes.
Southeastern is averaging 63.2 points per game for the year, led by junior forward
Rashima Jenkins and her 9.2 point per game scoring average. Kelli Jenkins (8.8 ppg), senior guard
Kim Edmonson (8.2 ppg), Ivory (7.6 ppg), Hix (6.9 ppg) and freshman guard
Erica Burgess (6.3 ppg) are the other top weapons for Southeastern. Kelli Jenkins is currently fourth in the Southland with 4.1 assists per game, while Burgess is averaging 2.6 per contest.
Crenshaw, Hix, Edmonson and Ivory combined for nine three-point field goals in Saturday’s win. On the year, the Lady Lions are averaging 6.1 treys per game, as both Hix (1.8, 8th) and Edmonson (1.7, 9th) rank among the league leaders in three-point field goals per game. With 102 career three-point field goals, Hix ranks fourth in school history, while also sitting in third place on the program’s all-time career three-point field goal percentage list. Edmonson is currently eighth in school history with 87 career treys.
Southeastern is out-rebounding opponents by an average of 3.1 rebounds per contest – good for third in the league – and is holding opponents to a league-low 36.5 rebounds per game. Ivory leads the team with a 6.6 board per game average, followed by Rashima Jenkins (5.1 rpg). Ivory, a Shreveport native in her fourth season with the Lady Lions out of Southwood High School, is 35 rebounds away from becoming the 14th player in school history with 500 career rebounds.
The 49 points allowed by Southeastern in Saturday’s win marked the fourth time this season the Lady Lions have held an opponent under 50 points. Southeastern also forced 26 Nicholls turnovers, as Edmonson recorded a career-high four steals.
For the season, Southeastern is allowing 64.4 points per game and forcing opponents into 18.7 turnovers per outing. Burgess leads the team with 1.2 steals per game, followed by Kelli Jenkins with 1.1. Ivory currently ranks third in the Southland with 19 blocked shots, while junior center
Kasia Gaworhas 13 swats. With 76 career blocks, Ivory is currently tied with former Lady Lion Jean Credit for fifth on the program’s all-time list.
Texas State heads into Wednesday’s game looking to end an eight-game losing skid and pick up its first league victory of the season. In their last outing, the Bobcats dropped a 71-59 decision at UT Arlington, despite 15 points by sophomore guard Kelsey Krupa.
The Bobcats are averaging 63.0 points per game and committing 20.9 turnovers per outing. Krupa leads the team with 9.3 points per game, followed by freshman guard Diamond Ford (9.0 ppg) and senior guard Victoria Davis (8.8 ppg). Davis also leads the team with 3.1 assists per game, while Krupa has netted a team-best 27 three-point field goals.
Texas State is averaging 40.4 rebounds per game, led by junior forward Chika Ofoegbu, who averages 5.5 rebounds per game. Senior forward Aimee Hilburn (5.2 rpg) and junior forward Anna Brzozowski (4.3 rpg) are the other top rebounders for the Bobcats.
Defensively, Texas State is allowing 71.0 points per game – including 75.6 points per game in league play – and forcing 17.8 turnovers per game. Davis ranks fourth in the Southland Conference with 2.3 steals per game, while sophomore forward Lacey Klause’s team-high 17 blocks is good for ninth in the Southland.
Texas State leads the all-time series with the Lady Lions by a 13-12 margin. Last season, Southeastern picked up a 67-58 home win over the Bobcats behind a 13-point, nine-rebound performance by then-senior forward Kristy Carlin. The Lady Lions last won in San Marcos in the 2006-07 season.
Southeastern will return home on Saturday, hosting UTSA at 3 p.m. for the Pink Zone game dedicated to the fight against breast cancer. The Lady Lions will don pink uniforms and fans will receive free pink t-shirts as available. Southeastern will also honor breast cancer survivors at halftime with several survivors serving as honorary coaches. Edmonson is Saturday’s Spotlight Player of the Game and the first 150 fans will receive a trading card featuring the Many native, courtesy of the Southeastern PRIDE (Positive Role-models Involved in the Development of Excellence).