HAMMOND, La – The Southeastern Louisiana University women’s basketball team beat UNO 69-51 in the University Center Thursday evening.
The Lady Lions (11-7, 6-2 SLC) are now on a three-game win streak after a 69-51 win over the Lady Privateers (3-14, 2-6 SLC) Thursday evening at home.
Southeastern put on a good show against New Orleans as Hailey Giaratano put up a career high of 24 points and leading SLU in scoring. Natalie put up a season high of 12 rebounds. Jen Pierre led with three assists and four steals.
“Super proud of her,” SLU head coach Ayla Guzzardo said, crediting Giaratano on her career record, “I know her teammates are proud of her. She was aggressive and that’s something we have been asking her to do.”
Giaratano prides herself on being a versatile player, but she recognizes that anyone could be the scoring leader at any given moment. “My teammates did a great job of finding me when I was open tonight,” She said, “While tonight I was the hot hand, anyone on our team could be in that position on any night. That’s what makes us so special.”
Southeastern started the game off hot with a quick fast break layup in the paint by Cierra Cunningham and the Lady Lions continued to feed off that momentum. Giaratano started off her hot streak with a three pointer at 7:06 in the first quarter. SLU would end the first quarter with 9-of-17 and a 52.94% from the floor.
The Lady Lions held the lead in the second quarter as New Orleans inched a little closer and brought down the 12-point deficit to only nine as UNO shot 42.86% from the floor compared to Southeastern’s 35.71%. Giaratano put up another three-pointer at the 8:01 mark of the second quarter. SLU would end the half with a nine-point lead, shooting 2-for-2 on free throws and 6-of-14 from the floor.
The third quarter was the turning point for Southeastern as it wouldn’t let the Privateers score for six minutes straight from 8:14 to 2:36, going on an 11-point run before UNO would be able to get a completed shot in by DeArica Pryor, upping the score 45-32. Giaratano would end the third quarter with a jumper in the paint.
Giaratano opened up the fourth quarter with a jump-shot that gave her a season high 18 points during a game. Southeastern would end up scoring an extra 18 points, shooting 70% from the floor and going 7-of-10 from the floor. Giaratano would continue to score as she had a jumper in the pain at the 4:57 mark, helping her to a season high of 24 points. Southeastern would go on to win 69-51 and improving its record by another win at home.
Southeastern scored 36 points in the paint, 12 bench points, 12 second chance points and nine fast break points.
SLU will have a quick turnaround before heading to New Orleans to face the Privateers at UNO Saturday Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats can be accessed on www.LionSports.net.
{Courtesy: Southeastern Athletics}
