The Lady Lions basketball team had their ups and downs at home last week, beginning with an overwhelming victory against the University of New Orleans (UNO) Privateers, 81-30, followed by a close defeat at the hands of the Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Ladyjacks, 69-61.
The match against UNO on Jan. 4, the first game of 2012 for the Lady Lions, broke a four game losing streak by forcing UNO into a long line of turnovers, yielding 35 points. The Lady Lions dominated UNO on the court offensively as junior forward Brandi Simmons led four Lady Lions in double figures with a game-high 14 points. Sophomore forward Aja Gibson and freshman guard Symone Miller each scored 11 points apiece, while senior guard Kelli Jenkins chipped in with 10 points. Freshman forward Hillary Shaffer and senior guard Jessica Sommers fell just short of double digits with nine and eight points, respectively, as 10 different Lady Lions scored in the win.
The 51-point lead is the largest held by the Lady Lions since their 113-53 win against Millsaps in their 2009-2010 season.
The victory against UNO was short lived after the Lady Lions fell to SFA on Jan. 7, the first Southland Conference (SLC) game of the year. While Simmons scored her season high of 16 points, the team could not overcome a season record of 34 turnovers. The Lady Lions have not won against SFA for almost a decade, which Simmons believes put pressure on the team.
“I feel like we had a burden on our shoulders because we haven’t beat them for eight years. I wanted to come out here, play hard and change that,” said Simmons. “It was a good one though, we put up a good fight. I try to work hard on every position, offense and defense. Sometimes, offense ain’t there, but I do what I can to help the team.”
The Ladyjacks were able to squeeze 28 points from the Lady Lions’ miscues. The earlier parts of the game were constantly shifting as both teams struggled to hold the lead. The Lady Lions’ last lead of the game, 42-41, was held at 13:46 left. At 10:10, the Ladyjacks wrested control of the ball, and kept a steady lead until the final buzzer.
Despite the bittersweet New Year, Simmons believes the team will rally as the season goes on.
“We come together as a unit and we have as lot of new players, but we just have to get on the same page,” said Simmons. “I feel like once we get on the same page we can do something. We’re going to get it together, I feel.”
Lori Davis Jones, head coach of the Lady Lions, gave her own thoughts on the week.
“Well, obviously I thought we played well against UNO and we were able to push lead and be decisive in who we were and do something that we haven’t done all season, which is win going away,” said Jones.
The Lady Lions will continue their season when they meet Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for their Second SLC Conference match of 2012 on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.