HOUSTON – The HBU women's basketball team earned its first ever Southland Conference championship on Saturday afternoon in Sharp Gym with its seventh win in a row, defeating McNeese 68-61, to secure the number one overall seed in next week's SLC Tournament.
 
The Huskies (16-9, 12-2 SLC) used a season-high 11 made three-pointers and a 42-32 advantage on the boards to take down the Cowgirls (13-14, 8-6 SLC). HBU finished the game shooting 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from behind the arc while shooting 13-of-14 (92.9 percent) from the foul line and 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the floor. Of the team's 42 rebounds, 17 came on the offensive end and the Huskies scored 14 second chance points while McNeese scored none.
 
HBU jumped out to a 10-4 lead but the Cowgirls closed out the first quarter by out-scoring the Huskies 13-4 and led 17-14 at the first break. N'Denasija Collins made the first two shots of the second quarter and Timia Jefferson knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Huskies ahead, 20-17, before Cristina Gil hit a three to even things up at 20-20 with 8:06 left in the half. The HBU defense then clamped down and the Huskies used a 20-4 run over the ensuing eight minutes for a 40-24 lead at halftime.
 
In the third quarter, McNeese started to make a push to get it back to double-figures with a Le'Shenae Stubblefield fast break layup bringing the Cowgirls within 11 at the 6:03 mark but threes from Julija Vujakovic and Kennedy Wilson, plus a Wilson free throw, quickly returned it to an 18-point HBU advantage. The Huskies led by as many as 19 in the third quarter and took a 59-43 advantage in to the final period.
 
Another Vujakovic trey with 5:19 to play gave HBU a 66-47 lead. The Cowgirls then started to whittle away the HBU lead, scoring the next 12 points, but it was too little, too late as HBU held off the McNeese pressure for the 68-61 win.
 
Vujakovic led all players with a season-high 19 points, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range. Wilson finished with 11 points while Collins just missed out on a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Abbey Sutherland matched Collins for the team lead on the boards with nine.
 
McNeese was led by Stubblefield who scored 11 points paired with six steals, five assists and four rebounds. The Cowgirls shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the floor and 40 percent (8-of-20) from three.
 
By virtue of earning the top seed, the Huskies receive a two-round bye straight to the semifinals on Saturday, Mar. 12, when they will play at 1:00 p.m. in the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.