The university women’s basketball team defeated Jackson State University 63-59 on Dec. 7, continuing their streak with three consecutive wins.

With 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Lady Lions took the lead 61-59. Two free throws placed the team four points ahead of the Tigers.

Head Coach Ayla Guzzardo described the significance of their win against JSU.

“We’re going on a winning streak,” explained Guzzardo. “This is a big one. Jackson State is a very, very good team. They play hard from the start of the game to the end of the game. We had a lot of unforced turnovers, a lot of missed box outs, but it’s good to get a win.”

Guzzardo explained that better control throughout plays would be needed to prevent turnovers.

“We’ve got to limit second chance opportunities with the offensive rebounds,” said Guzzardo. “We’ve got to be able to handle the pressure. Too many turnovers, especially with our point guard. We trust them with the ball, and they have to know they have the confidence to take care of the ball.”

Senior center Aminat Jubril shared that persistence and teamwork led the team to victory.

“I feel like we didn’t give up, and then we just keep striving towards that,” expressed Jubril. “There’s a lot of charges, and it shows you what the team sacrifices, and everyone was working together.”

Jubril also expressed that the team would need to improve on their technique in order to continue their winning streak.

“I think we need to improve on our box out more,” said Jubril. “We give them second chances, and that’s why they came up a lot, but we got it. We’re working on it.”

Freshman guard Alexius Horne acknowledged the same error in technique.

“I think we should improve our boxing out,” explained Horne. “We struggled most with our boxing out.”

Despite the struggles during the game, Horne commended the team for working together.

“I’m proud that we’re all coming together as a team,” said Horne. “We’re all playing together, and we’re all sharing the ball. We’re finding each other, and we were able to come out with a win.”

Jubril shared what she hopes the team will accomplish by the end of the season.

“Well I just want to make sure my team is able to get to the stage of our abilities because we are a pretty good team,” said Jubril. “I think we could win in our conference.”

The Lady Lions’ next game will be on Dec. 13 as they take on Louisiana Tech University at 6:30 p.m. in Ruston.