Southeastern women’s basketball (11-8, 7-1 SLC) fell at Lamar (13-5, 7-1 SLC) on Saturday (Jan. 27) afternoon 59-45 in Beaumont, Texas. 

The loss is SLU’s first of 2024 and marks its first defeat in conference play after a perfect 7-0 start. 

The Lady Lions did beat HCU in Houston on Thursday night (Jan. 25) in dramatic fashion, 53-51 behind a pair of clutch Allasia Washington free throws in the game’s final seconds. 

However, Lamar proved too much to handle two days later for the Green and Gold, particularly in the second half. 

Southeastern started the game on the front foot, taking a 16-11 lead after the first quarter of action. 

Senior SLU guard Daija Harvey’s three-pointer with 1:55 remaining in the first half gave her side a 26-17 advantage. 

The Cardinals responded, ending the half on a 5-0 run, which trimmed the Lady Lions’ lead to four, 26-22 at intermission. 

The third quarter was nothing short of a disaster for Southeastern; Lamar outscored SLU 16-4 during the game-altering period, taking a 38-30 edge into the fourth. 

The Lady Lions shot an abysmal 1/11 from the field during the third, including 2/4 from the free throw line and committed seven of their 12 total turnovers.

Southeastern’s offense showed much more life in the fourth. The problem was, so did Lamar’s. 

The Cardinals compiled 21 points over the final ten minutes of play, shooting an uber-efficient 7/11 from the floor. 

The Lady Lions mustered 16 points of their own on 6/14 shooting. 

The Southland Conference title game rematch from a year ago went the way of the revenge-seeking Cardinals this time; overall, a disappointing second half showing resulted in a double-digit defeat for the Green and Gold. 

Southeastern will look to bounce back tonight (Feb. 1) at 6 p.m. in the comfortable confines of the Pride Roofing University Center against UIW (11-7, 4-3 SLC). 

Come out and show your support, Lion fans! 

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

Hopefully, these Cardinals won’t give the Lady Lions as much trouble and they can get back to their usual winning ways. 

From here on out, every game will be pivotal in the race for the regular season championship as three squads currently sit at 7-1 atop the Southland Conference standings: Southeastern, Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

As always, for more Southeastern women’s basketball coverage, check The Lion’s Roar.