GARLAND, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana women's basketball team was unable to get on track offensively Wednesday night, as SMU pulled away in the second half for an 82-39 win over the Lady Lions in non-conference action at the Curtis Culwell Center.
 
The Lady Lions (1-8), who were playing their fourth game in six days, were held to 24.6 percent shooting (14-for-57) from the floor. SMU improved to 8-1 overall after scoring 25 points off 21 Southeastern turnovers.
 
Junior guard Symone Miller led the Lady Lions with 13 points, but was the lone Southeastern player to finish in double figures. Senior forward Aja Gibson added nine points and moved to within 41 points of becoming the 18^th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.
 
Southeastern sophomore forward Nanna Pool continues to be a force on the boards. The Magnolia, Miss. native pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to raise her season average to 9.8 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Erica Hernandez finished with a career-high seven rebounds off the bench. Gibson had six boards to raise her career rebounding total to 528, moving past former Lady Lion Rachel Mackie for 14^th place in school history.  
 
Senior guard Keena Mays led the Mustangs with 17 points and was joined in double figures by senior forward Akili Simpson and junior forward Destynee Hives-McCray, as both netted 14 points apiece. Junior guard Raven Short narrowly missed a double-double off the bench, finishing with nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. SMU senior center Mallory Singleton led the Mustangs with seven assists.
 
Southeastern held close in the first half, holding SMU to 30.6 percent shooting (11-for-36) in the first half. Unfortunately, the Lady Lions were cold as well, shooting 23.1 percent (6-for-26) from the floor on the way to a 29-17 deficit heading into the break.
 
Southeastern kept within striking distance for the first seven minutes of the second half, as a Miller free throw pulled the Lady Lions to within 43-29 with 13:03 remaining. However, SMU turned up the defensive intensity and got hot from the field, shooting 59 percent (23-for-39) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
 
After Miller connected from the charity stripe, SMU went on a 23-6 run over the next seven-plus minutes, as a trey by Short pushed the Mustang lead to 66-35 with 5:40 left. Southeastern would get no closer than 29 the rest of the way.
 
The Lady Lions will take a lengthy break to concentrate on final exams. Southeastern will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 15, traveling to UTEP for a 3 p.m. (Central Standard Time) contest.