HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana women’s basketball team will close out its regular season on Saturday, facing Southland Conference East Division rival Northwestern State at 2 p.m. at Prather Coliseum.
The Lady Lions (12-16, 6-9 Southland) and the host Lady Demons (13-15, 6-9 Southland) are currently tied for the seventh seed in the Southland Conference Tournament, which begins next Tuesday at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. Southeastern could be as high as the sixth seed, should it defeat NSU and Sam Houston State lose to Texas State.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net. With the men’s game with Northwestern State scheduled to tip at 12 p.m., Saturday’s Lady Lions-Lady Demons contest will be joined in progress.
Southeastern clinched its second straight trip to the postseason tournament on Wednesday with a 61-55 win at McNeese State. In the victory, senior forward
Zevy Ivory led the way for the Lady Lions with 17 points and nine rebounds. Junior forward
Rashima Jenkins added 14 points, while sophomore guard
Kelli Jenkins netted 13 points and freshman guard
Erica Burgess dished out a team-high four assists.
For the season, Southeastern is averaging 62.8 points per game. Ivory leads the team with 10.0 points per game, followed by Rashima Jenkins (9.6 ppg), Kelli Jenkins (8.9 ppg), senior guard
Kim Edmonson (7.8 ppg), Burgess (6.3 ppg) and junior guard
Chelsea Hix (6.0 ppg). Kelli Jenkins is fourth in the Southland with 4.0 assists per game and her 113 assists on the year are the most by a Lady Lion since 2001-02.
Southeastern features a trio of double figure scorers in Southland Conference play. Ivory is averaging 12.6 points per game versus league opposition, followed by Rashima Jenkins (11.6 ppg) and Kelli Jenkins (10.9 ppg). Ivory has been particularly effective as of late, as the Shreveport native is averaging 17.0 points per game in her last seven contests.
The Lady Lions are outrebounding opponents by an average of 2.1 boards per game. Ivory leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per contest, while Rashima Jenkins averages 5.9 boards per outing. With 524 career boards, Ivory ranks 13th in the program’s history.
Defensively, Southeastern is holding opponents to 64.6 points per game and forcing 18.2 turnovers per contest. Burgess is tops on the team with 39 steals on the year. Ivory leads the team with 23 blocked shots and her 80 career blocks are good for fourth in school history.
Ivory is not the only Lady Lion making a mark in the school’s career record books. Hix sits in third place in school history with 110 three-point field goals, while Edmonson is tied for fifth with 101 career treys.
After a strong start to the Southland Conference season, Northwestern State has lost four in a row and seven of its last eight games. On Wednesday, the Lady Demons fell at Sam Houston State, 82-66. Junior guard Brooke Shepherd came off the bench to lead four NSU players in double figures with 15 points, while senior guard Lyndzee Greene posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Junior guard Brittiany Houston leads Northwestern State with 12.6 points per game. The Lady Demons average 68.2 points per game, as freshman forward Trudy Armstead (9.5 ppg), senior forward Sherrion Thomas (9.5 ppg) and Shepherd (9.4 ppg) are the other top offensive threats. Houston and Greene are the team’s top distributors, averaging 3.5 and 3.2 assists per game, respectively.
The Lady Demons are averaging 39.0 rebounds per game and opponents are outrebounding NSU by 2.8 boards per contest. Thomas is among the league’s top rebounders, averaging 7.9 rebounds per contest.
Northwestern State is allowing 67.1 points per game and forcing opponents into 18.4 turnovers per game. Greene leads the team with 47 steals and is one of four Lady Demons averaging more than a steal per game. Junior guard Jessica McPhail (25) and Thomas (24) are the team’s most effective shot blockers.
Southeastern is 14-36 all-time versus Northwestern State. In the team’s first meeting back on Jan. 13 in Hammond, Northwestern State did not miss a shot in the final six minutes to rally for a 79-74 victory. The strong finish by the Lady Demons offset a career-night from Kelli Jenkins, who scored a career-high 26 points.
The Lady Lions first round opponent for next week’s tournament will be determined following the conclusion of Saturday’s regular season finales. Southeastern will face Lamar, Stephen F. Austin or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Tuesday’s first round. All of the university’s men’s and women’s basketball tournament games will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net.