With a season high 20 points and 10 rebounds Lady Lion sophomore forward Aja Gibson helped lift the Lady Lions (6-13, 1-5) to their first Southland Conference win of the season over the Lady Demons of Northwestern State (5-15, 1-6) 73-66 Saturday at the University Center.
The Lady Lions wore their pink uniforms in honor of the fight against breast cancer in the annual “Play for Kay” game and the win marked head coach Lori Davis Jones’ 298th career win as the Lady Lions’ head coach.
Gibson was one of three Lady Lions to score in double digits on the evening, helping the Lady Lions to their first victory since Jan. 4 in a win over UNO.
Southeastern got out to a fast start, taking a 6-2 lead converting their first three possessions of the game with baskets from Gibson, junior forward Brandi Simmons and senior guard Kelli Jenkins. Jenkins contributed from all aspects of the game with 17 points, 4 assist and 6 rebounds.
The Lady Demons would not quit, putting together a streak of their own and taking an 8-9 lead with 14:05 to play in the first half after a basket inside from center Jasmine Upchurch. The Lady Demons went on an 11-4 run, and after two successful foul shots from Trudy Armstead, the Lady Lions fell behind 12-20 just over halfway through the first half.
The Lady Lions would prove resilient responding with a 12-0 run of their own as junior guard Jessica Sommers converted a Lady Lion steal into a jumper on the other end, giving the Lady Lions a 24-20 lead with 06:33 left in the first half and forcing a Lady Demons timeout. Lady Lion head coach Lori Davis Jones was pleased with her team’s performance.
“We finally put together 40 minutes of basketball on both ends of the floor,” said Davis Jones. “We really did some nice work with our pressure defense, which we felt kept them from getting into a rhythm offensively. We know that offensively we need to create opportunities with our defensive effort and we did an excellent job of that