LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Southeastern Lions women's basketball team made history on Thursday afternoon as they used a second half rally to claim their first-ever Southland Women's Basketball Championship at the Jersey Mike's Southland Basketball Championships presented by LouisianaTravel.com.

After going into the break trailing by nine, Lions dominated the second half with a 39-21 advantage in the second half including a 26-11 edge in the third quarter to take control of the game. 

Southeastern earns its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament and will find out its destination on Selection Sunday airing live on ESPN. 

The spark in this one came from Taylor Bell off the bench, who scored 22 points on 7 of 9 shooting and three 3-pointers, sparking the comeback for the Lions.

Hailey Giaratano earned Tournament MVP honors and added another brilliant performance with 15 points, eight boards, three assists, and a steal. Chrissy Brown added 10 points and seven boards, while the smallest person on the floor, Jen Pierre, scored eight points with 11 rebounds.

Portia Adams led the Cardinals with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Akasha Davis continued her run of terrific performances with 16 points and 13 rebounds. 

Lamar came out firing as they opened the game on a 9-2 run and led by as many as nine in the opening period.

Southeastern cut the deficit to 22-19 with 7:57 left in the second quarter, but the duo of Adams and Davis controlled the first half of play with Adams scoring nine points and Davis adding eight points and six boards.
 
Southeastern completely flipped the script in the second half. After briefly falling behind by 11 early in the quarter, the Lions roared back to close out the period as Bell paced a 20-5 run to close out the quarter and the Lions took a 53-47 lead into the fourth quarter.

Bell was incredible in the third quarter, scoring 10 points on 4 of 5 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. Giaratano was also hot in the quarter with seven points.

Lamar would not go down quietly in the fourth as they cut it to 59-57 with just under four minutes remaining on the Adams driving layup.

However, it was Southeastern's day to shine as they closed the game on a 7-0 run, connecting on free throws, and bringing the title back home to Hammond, America.

In 2020, Southeastern made its first tournament since 2012 and saw that experience end due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years later, the Lions played for a conference title and fell short.

Today, Southeastern calls themselves champions and completes the incredible turnaround under Head Coach Ayla Guzzardo.