Southeastern women’s basketball defeated Nicholls 66-56 Thursday night (Jan. 4) at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium behind junior forward Cheyanne Daniels’ 20-point performance. 

The Shawnee Community College transfer shot a perfect 7/7 from the field and led all scorers in the game, while also notching eight rebounds, pacing SLU in its SLC opener. 

Junior guard Taylor Bell and sophomore point guard Jalencia Pierre both reached double figures for the Lady Lions, scoring 12 and 11 respectively. 

Bell showed her prowess on the defensive end, swiping three steals to pair with a block, while additionally snaring six rebounds and tallying two assists. 

Pierre dished a career-best eight dimes and grabbed four rebounds herself. 

Keep in mind, Pierre was the smallest player on the court standing at 5’5. The Amite High product continues to show her elite level athleticism on a nightly basis for the Green and Gold. 

Reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year Lexi Alexander led the way for the Colonels with a joint team-high 16 points, but only shot 4/16 from the field, doing a bulk of her damage from the free throw line. 

The sophomore out of Rock Round, Texas, went a flawless 8/8 from the charity stripe. 

Teammates Mikayla Etienne and McNeese transfer Kyla Hamilton poured in 16 and 12 points each, as Etienne drained four triples. 

A back-and-forth first quarter affair saw Southeastern jump out to a 15-12 advantage. 

The second quarter went even better for the Lady Lions as they outscored the Colonels 18-10 during the period, extending their lead to 33-22 at the half. 

Nevertheless, Nicholls added an intriguing twist during the third ten minute stint down the bayou.

After a three from junior guard Mackenzie Thomas put SLU up 38-24 with 7:38 to play in the third quarter, the Colonels embarked on a furious 12-0 run capped off by back-to-back three balls of their own, via Etienne and Hamilton. 

This made the score 38-36 with under five minutes to go (4:46) in the third, before Daniels finally stopped the bleeding for Southeastern, knocking down a pair of free throws. 

The breather was short lived as a relentless Nicholls’ attack went on another run (7-0) to take its first lead since late in the first quarter, 43-40.

A quick 5-0 burst from the Lady Lions put them back on top and when the dust settled on a rampant third quarter, the score was squared at 47-47. 

Southeastern dominated Nicholls during the fourth quarter with its patented, suffocating defense orchestrated by Head Coach Ayla Guzzardo.  

The Hammond native’s unit surrendered only nine points to the Colonels over the final 10 minutes of game action and scored 19 themselves, ultimately cruising to a ten point road victory. 

Winning away from home by double-digits is never an easy feat, especially in the Southland Conference, yet that’s just what SLU accomplished. 

The much needed victory snapped a four game losing streak for the Lady Lions as they moved to (5-7, 1-0 SLC) on the season; Nicholls fell to (6-7, 0-1 SLC). 

Next up on the docket for the Green and Gold is a road date with UNO (4-8, 1-0 SLC), who also won their conference opener by 10 points in the Big Easy Thursday night, 88-78 over Texas A&M-Commerce. 

Tip-off against the Privateers of New Orleans is scheduled for today at 2 p.m. in the Lakefront Arena. 

The game will be livestreamed on ESPN+ and radio listeners can tune in to 90.9 The Lion. 

As always, for all Southeastern women’s basketball content, stay posted to The Lion’s Roar.