After Saturday’s 62-44 loss at Southeastern Louisiana’s University Center, the Sam Houston State women’s basketball team’s record in Southland Conference play dropped to 3-8, still one game out of the final SLC Tournament playoff spot.
Brenita Williams led the Lions onslaught with a game-high 17 points.
Saturday was Senior Day for the Lions, and one senior took advantage of her stage. Laney Watson, one of SLU’s two seniors, scored a career best 12 points, all of which came early in the first half. Watson hit her first four three-point attempts. In just over a minute of play, Watson hit three straight treys to turn the game from a 7-2 deficit into an 11-8 Lion lead.
Watson’s outburst set the bar for the rest of the team, who shot 67 percent (8-12) from three-point land.
After her 12 points, SLU ran up a 26-13 score with 6:53 left in the half.
The first half ended with an 11-2 Southeastern Louisiana run, with six by Williams, sending the Kats into the locker room down by 21.
After halftime, the Lions went on a 10-0 run to fully seal the victory. With 15:55 left to play in the game, the Kats were down 50-19. In the end, the Kats tried to make a run, but it was too little too late.
Jamie Barr was the only SHSU player in double figures, scoring 11 points on 4-7 shooting. As a team, the Kats shot a problematic 35 percent from the field.
In contrast, the Lions shot 44 percent as a team. SLU also went 50 percent from three-point range.
The next SHSU women’s basketball game will be Thursday at 7 p.m. when they host Lamar at Johnson Coliseum.
Sam Houston has five games remaining on their conference schedule. Northwestern State currently holds the eighth and final playoff spot while SHSU sits in ninth, tied with Nicholls State at 3-8 in conference.