HAMMOND, La. – HCU came up short in a Saturday afternoon Southland Conference women's basketball matchup, losing to defending conference champion Southeastern by a 60-40 final at the Pride Roofing University Center.
In a game that got off to a slow start, it took nearly four minutes for the scoring to start with
Kennedy Wilson knocking down a three at the 6:04 mark. Southeastern (?-?, ?-? SLC) scored the next four but Wilson answered for HCU (?-?, ?-? SLC) with an old-fashioned three-point play and the Huskies led 6-4. Over the final 4:30 of the first quarter, however, the Lady Lions out-scored the Huskies, 10-2, to lead 14-6 after 10 minutes.
The second quarter opened with HCU scoring six of the first eight points to cut the deficit down to just two, 16-14, within three minutes. SLU, however, then went on an 8-0 run while keeping the Huskies off the board for more than six minutes before
Jo Oly connected on a mid-range jumper with just 33 seconds to go in the half and HCU trailed, 24-16, at the break.
The two teams traded baskets to open the second half with
N'Denasija Collins' jumper bringing the score to 26-18, the closest HCU would get the rest of the game as the defending champions pulled away.
Wilson led HCU with 11 points, connecting on 4-of-10 from the floor, while also dishing out three assists. A trio of Huskies, Collins,
Jo Oly and
Tove Caesar, all scored six points with Oly leading the team with six rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Huskies were out-rebounded, 42-23, in the loss but forced the Lady Lions into 18 turnovers, tying SLU's season-high. As a team, the Huskies shot 32.6 percent (15-of-46) from the field with SLU connecting at a 44.6 percent (25-of-56) clip.
HCU returns home to Sharp Gym next week, first hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 6:00 p.m. before facing Northwestern State on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 1:00 p.m.
