HOUSTON, Texas – HCU women's basketball dropped their final game of the season to the Southeastern Lady Lions Wednesday evening in Sharp Gym. 
 
Southeastern (19-9, 14-4 SLC) new they had a shot at winning the regular season Southland title with a win, and came out hot on both sides of the ball.  Defensively the Lady Lions held the Huskies (11-18, 6-12 SLC) to just six points on two made shots in the first quarter. 
 
After tying things at two with just over eight minutes to play in the first quarter, SLU's offense went on a 5-0 run over the next four minutes. Kennedy Wilson then stepped to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the HCU deficit to just three, 7-4. SLU used the final three minutes to go on a 13-2 run and extend their lead to 14, 20-6.  
 
HCU found their offensive stroke with 16 second quarter points, but SLU didn't take their foot off the gas, pouring in 21 points in the second. Julija Vujakovic opened the second quarter for HCU with a made three pointer before SLU went on an 11-1 run and extended their lead to 21, 31-10. Both teams then went cold from the field, N'Denasija Collins knocked down a free throw at the 6:27 mark to cut the lead to 20.  

Jo Oly ignited the Huskies in the final five minutes of the first half, scoring seven of HCU's 11 points to close out the period, outscoring the Lady Lions 11-10 over that same stretch. HCU trailed 41-22 heading to halftime.  
 
 Collins opened the third with a pair of made free throws and a pair of layups for HCU before SLU got rolling. HCU kept SLU off the board over the middle third of the period, but were unable to get momentum on offense to cut any further into the lead.
 
HCU started to find their shooting stroke in the fourth quarter, however the deficit they found themselves in proved to be too many points to overcome. 10 of the 11 points scored in the quarter were scored by Husky seniors.
 
Collins finished with a 10-point 14-rebound double-double while Vujakovic led the team with 11 points. Lauryn Mapusua finished with four points while Sutherland and Nzoiwu each added a pair.
 
HCU's season comes to an end following this evenings game. HCU will honor all four of their graduating seniors during halftime of the men's. Some of the many career achievements of Abbey Sutherland, Julija Vujakovic, Lauryn Mapusua, and Marilyn Nzoiwu can be found below.

 
Husky Seniors
 
From Queensland, Australia, Lauryn Mapusua. Lauryn has appeared in 50 games for the Huskies since transferring to HCU prior to the 2021-22 season. She set career highs against Northwestern State in January of this season when she had 14-points in 28 minutes of play, including eight made free-throws and four steals. She totaled 133 points, 56 rebounds, 18 assists, and 20 steals in two seasons for the Huskies. She was named to the Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll in 2022, and will graduate in May with her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies.
 
Next, from Hamilton, Australia, Abbey Sutherland. In four seasons with HCU, Abbey started in 80 of the 93 games she appeared in. She totaled 464 points, 213 rebounds, and 116 blocked shots, fifth most in school history in 2635 minutes played. Abbey set career highs this season when she scored 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting against McNeese before pulling in 11 rebounds against Texas A&M-Corpus. She was a member of the Academic All-Conference second-team in 2022 and was on the Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll from 2020-2022. Sutherland graduated in the Fall of 2022 with her Bachelor's in Psychology and will pursue her master's in Psychology back home in Australia.
 
Third, from Round Rock, Texas, Marilyn Nzoiwu. Marilyn concludes her fifth season at HCU as the second leading shot blocker in school history with 167. She has appeared in 123 games including 74 starts for the Huskies. Marilyn has totaled 593 points and 779 rebounds in 2603 minutes. Over her career she shot 40 percent from the floor and 70 percent from the foul line. Nzoiwu was named to the Southland All-Defensive team in 2021-22 and the Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll from 2019-2022. She was a member of the Academic All-Conference second-team in 2022. Marilyn graduated in 2021 with her bachelor's degree in Psychology and will graduate in May with her Masters.
 
Finally, from Bereldange, Luxembourg, Julija Vujakovic. Julija finishes her career at HCU having started in 94 of the 129 games she has appeared in. Since arriving on campus, Julija has compiled 943 points, 176 assists, 315 rebounds, 157 steals, and 59 blocks. She leaves HCU ranked top-15 in program history in scoring, assists, steals, and blocked shots. She set career highs this season with 18 points against New Orleans, eight rebounds against Texas A&M-Corpus, and seven assists against McNeese. Jules was named to the All-Conference Second team in 2021-22, Conference All-Academic First-Team in 2022 and the Second-Team 2021. She made the Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll from 2019-2022. Julija graduated with her bachelor's in Psychology in the Fall of 2021 and will graduate in May with her master's in Psychology.