Though the university closed for winter break, the Lady Lions basketball team continued to play. They celebrated wins against Florida A&M and Sam Houston State University, and suffered losses to LSU, Ole Miss and Stephen F. Austin.
Despite setbacks, they were not discouraged. They continued to move forward during practices and games.
“We practice at five in the morning,” said head coach Yolanda Moore. “They show their love for the sport through their commitment. They are on time for everything, have great attitudes and give maximum effort in practice and games.”
Even with their best attempt, the LSU Lady Tigers defeated the Lady Lions 75-42 on Dec. 14. The Lady Lions were able to collect 38 rebounds, 19 turnovers and eight steals. Senior guards Symone Miller and Elizabeth Styles led the team, collectively scoring 25 points.
The next three games went into overtime with the Lady Lions winning once and losing twice.
On Dec. 20, Southeastern bounced back from the loss against LSU and conquered Florida A&M 69-67 at home in the University Center. Styles was able to achieve her season-high of 21 points, leading the team to victory.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth with our team. They have matured a lot and are not making as many mistakes as they made early on in the season. We’re finding our identity, playing together, learning to play within our system,” said Moore.
According to senior forward Jameika Hoskins, the team had trouble closing out in the overtime games. In order to improve, the Lady Lions play against each other during practice and follow Moore’s direction.
“[We’re] making it more like game situations and going through the game plans the way coach planned it out for us. We feed off of each other’s energy,” said Hoskins.
The Lady Lions kept up the intensity in an away game against Ole Miss, but came up short, 71-79. Styles led again with 18 points and senior guard Annessa De La Cruz scored her season-high of 13 points.
The Lady Lions did not catch a break when they opened Southland Conference play against Stephen F. Austin’s Ladyjacks on Jan. 5. The Ladyjacks took the lead in overtime and came out on top, 78-71. Junior guard Peaches Anderson led the team and set her career-high with 18 points. Junior forward Nanna Pool also dished out 15 points.
The Lady Lions beat Sam Houston State University during their first home conference game on Jan. 8 with a final score of 78-76 as Hoskins scored with the sound of the final buzzer, avoiding a fourth straight game featuring overtime.
This game marked the first conference win under the Lady Lions’ first-year head coach Moore.
Southeastern then took on Houston Baptist University on Jan. 10. They defeated the Huskies 67-59.
The Huskies entered the half trailing 32-23, but were able to trail the Lions by only four points early in the second half.
In the final minute of play, Southeastern improved their one-point lead at the foul line with senior guards Styles and De La Crus making consecutive trips to the charity strike.
To see how the Lady Lions did on their final two matches before heading home, visit lionsports.net. The women’s basketball team will take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the University Center on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.