On Thursday night, the women’s basketball team (24-3, SLC 18-0) clinched the No. 1 seed and became Southland Conference regular season champions. Their winning streak carried into Saturday afternoon, when they defeated East Texas A&M (6-20, SLC 3-14) 75-55. 

With this win, the Lady Lions broke the school record for longest winning streak with 18 wins straight. Southeastern now has an 18-0 record in the Southland Conference and an overall record of 24-3.  

Head coach Ayla Guzzardo was happy about the win, but she kept focusing on the conference tournament. 

“We still have more work to do and we understand that winning the regular season is a very exciting feeling,” Coach Guzzardo said.

Although becoming the SLC regular season champion is a big accomplishment, the Lady Lions are not done yet. With two games left before the conference tournament against UTRGV and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Coach Guzzardo highlighted the importance of discipline and focus in keeping their winning streak alive. 

“We know that if we handle business early on, it would put us in a great position later in the conference. I’m happy we’ve got to clinch the championship early, but we’re looking forward to the conference tournament,” Guzzardo said. 

The Lady Lions showed strong dominance on the offensive side since four players scored in double figures. Allasia Washington led the team with 15 points and also delivered a perfect 8-8 of free throws. Kaili Chamberlin followed her with 13 points, four three-pointers and three rebounds. 

“I never know who’s going to be my leading scorer in any game and that’s the fun thing, everybody steps up. Allasia Washington and Kaili Chamberlain came off the bench today and those are two big key players for us that have been quiet in the past few games so I’m happy they got their shine before the tournament’s coming up,” Guzzardo said. 

In the first half, the Lady Lions took control early and went into halftime with a twelve-point lead, 37-25, against East Texas A&M. The third quarter started strong with Jalencia Pierre’s jump in the paint. Their momentum carried through into the fourth quarter when Allasia Washington scored a three-pointer and gave Southeastern its largest lead of the game at 66-38, a 28-point advantage.

Scores were tied twice during the game, both in the first quarter at 2-2 and 12-12.

During the night, Alexius Horne shot 13 points and four three-pointers, while Tyreona Sibley scored 11 points. On defense, Sibley led the team with seven rebounds, followed by four rebounds from Washington, Jalencia Pierre and Taylor Bell. Bell led in assists with three, while Sibley, Avary Berry, Cheyanne Daniels and Pierre each added two. 

Guzzardo said she believes in focusing on subtle improvements instead of huge game-plan changes. 

“Don’t fix it if it’s not broken, right? So we’re going to keep doing the same thing we do. We’re going to defend on the at a high level, and play at a high level on the offensive end. We’re going to share the ball,” Guzzardo said. 

The Lady Lions are traveling to Texas to finish their regular season matches against UTRGV and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, before heading to the SLC Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The tournament takes place in Lake Charles, starting Monday, March 10. 

For more information, check the schedule of the Lady Lions and stay tuned for The Lion’s Roar.