Bench Scoring Drives No. 3 Lady Lions to 80-66 Victory Against No. 7 New Orleans
Courtesy of Brandon Williams, Southland Conference
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KATY, Texas – New Orleans was up to the task of slowing down a Southeastern team that had defeated them twice in the regular season, and while the effort was there from the Privateers, the results were the same on Friday.
The third-seeded Lions clamped down early on the defensive end and never eased up on the way to an 80-66 victory over the seventh-seeded Privateers in a Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinal at Leonard E. Merrell Center. Southeastern (15-10) now faces second-seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup.
A win on Saturday would put the Lions — who won for just the second time in 12 appearances in the Southland Conference Tournament — in position to play for the school’s first tourney championship on Sunday.
“It’s a big thing for this team, a big thing for this program and a big thing for this university,” said Southeastern head coach Ayla Guzzardo, whose team won a tourney game for the first time since 2002. “We’re not coming to win one game. We’re coming to win a championship.”
The Lions put its depth on display on Friday. Southeastern’s bench produced 52 of its points, with four players — Taylor Bell (13), Breonca Ducksworth (12), and Natalie Kelly and Morgan Davis (10 each) — scoring in double figures.
“We’re a fun team,” said Guzzardo. “Anybody on my bench could start on my team or any other team in the Southland Conference. We’re deep. We know we’re deep, and that’s one of the positives about us in this tournament.”
“We take pride in being able to be a spark off the bench and help the team,” said Kelly, who added eight rebounds in 18 minutes.
Southeastern’s bench dominance (it outscored UNO’s bench by 35) allowed Guzzardo to allow her three All-Southland Conference performers — first team forward Caitlyn Williams and third team guards Morgan Carrier and Hailey Giarantano — the opportunity to not put up heavy minutes.
The Lions held the Privateers (5-18) to just seven points in the first quarter, setting the tone for the entire contest.
“Defense is everything,” said Williams. “We know that sometimes we may not have great offensive games, but defensively, that’s our bread and butter.”
UNO found itself down 26-11 with 7:40 left in the first half before a 6-0 run over the ensuing 2:19 to push within nine at the 4:35 mark. After going scoreless for over three minutes, the Lions regained the defensive dominance it had in the first quarter to build a 33-19 margin following a Giaratano layup with 1:55 before intermission.
However, UNO’s defense was able to generate offense in the closing seconds. A DeArica Pryor steal led to a basket and was followed by a Jomyra Mathis swipe that resulted in a basket from Pryor that closed the Privateers’ deficit to 33-23 at the half.
The Privateers remained stubborn in the early portion of the third quarter yet were unable to get closer than eight points. A Ducksworth layup with 5:09 left in the period began to provide considerable breathing space for Southeastern at 42-30.
The Lions hit six consecutive shots during a run that saw them expand their lead back to 49-35 before Kelly and Bell combined for four free throws to build Southeastern’s advantage to 53-35 after three quarters.
UNO refused to quit after falling behind by as much as 62-39 with 7:12 left. The Privateers cut the margin to 14 with 3:53 remaining. A Pryor 3-pointer brought the Privateers to 77-66 with just :46 on the clock, yet it would be as close as UNO would get.
Southeastern handed A&M-Corpus Christi a 48-43 defeat at home on January 27 but fell to at the Islanders 57-50 on February 17.
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