On Friday, after having a tough season, the Lady Lions basketball team broke their losing streak by defeating Southland Conference opponent UIW 74-64.
The high-energy game was back-and-forth, with six lead changes by intense scoring drives from both teams.
SLU secured the win in the final minutes by holding a one-point lead in the last four minutes of the final quarter.
Freshman guard Mia Ramos explained she valued the encouragement from her team and the energy from the crowd to keep the Lady Lions’ momentum alive.
“We didn’t start the best, but we had to continue to stay positive for us to win. We can’t dwell on the mistakes we’ve made, so we focused on the next play each time.”
Junior guard Aliyah Collins spoke about how they secured the win by pushing through the struggles on and off the court.
“We attack every game the same as the last and the same as the next. We came out here with urgency to play as hard as we can and it paid off with the win,” Collins said.
The fans energized the University Center with excitement by jumping out of their seats with every basket made by Southeastern.
With every shot, everyone in attendance was engaged in the team’s work and effort. After the game, Coach Jeff Dow explained that the team knew it wouldn’t be an easy win and how the crowd’s reactions played a huge role in getting the team more focused.
“It’s been obviously getting the team’s confidence going, especially through the tough parts. We knew it was going to be hard, and that’s the joy in playing the game. It is hard to find a way to stay resilient, but that is exactly what we did to stay in the fight,” said Dow as he led his team to victory over his old team at UIW.
Through the game, SLU scored 24 points off turnovers with some assistance from the freshman guard Natalie Huff, who took the ball away from the Lady Cardinals four times and scored 11 points.
This season, the Lady Lions are a new team and shown much improvement. Dow coaches the team to cover the floor regardless of the other team’s size and talent with great composure.
With many of the games this season being lost in double overtime or during the final seconds of the fourth quarter, it could potentially hurt Southeastern’s confidence, but Dow makes sure the team stays resilient and looks ahead.
“We’ve experienced those types of moments from hard losses earlier in the season, but the season isn’t over and we have a second chance to move up in the standings,” Dow said.
SLU continued to play HCU on Saturday, resulting in a second consecutive win for the team with 40 points in the second half.
Ramos and Collins led Southeastern over Houston Christian in a close game, 61-64, being the top scorers in the match, leading the team to victory once again.
Tonight, the Lady Lions look to move up the rankings as they take on East Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. on the road, and continue traveling to face Northwestern State on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 1 p.m. in Natchitoches.
Fans can watch both games live on ESPN+ or listen to them on KSLU 90.9 The Lion.
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