Lady Pilots take on Lady Rams in Round I of GCAC Tournament
February 27, 2007
Shreveport, LA---The LSUS Lady Pilots finished the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season winning six of their last eight contests which propelled them to5th place overall, avoiding the four team play in game to the GCAC Tournament for the first time in four years. As the No. 5 seed in the GCAC Tournament, the Lady Pilots will be forced to travel to Mobile, AL to take on the No. 4 seed University of Mobile Lady Rams in a quarter final match up Wednesday night.
The UM Lady Rams defeated the Lady Pilots in both contests the two teams played in 2007. In early January, the Lady Pilots led 33-24 at halftime over the Lady Rams, but were held to just 21 second half points as UM went on to a 66-54 victory at The Dock.
The second contest of the regular season saw the Lady Pilots post their worst shooting performance of the season as they managed to connect on just 18-of-71 (25%) field goal attempts in a 62-47 road loss.
While history is not on the Lady Pilots side in head-to-head match ups against UM, their play of late has proven that LSUS could be a force to reckon with in the upcoming GCAC Tournament.
The Lady Pilots ended the regular season with a convincing 60-49 over the then second place Southern University of New Orleans Lady Knights which knocked SUNO to third place in the overall standings.
Just one week prior to their victory over SUNO, the Lady Pilots disposed of the No. 2 seeded Xavier University Gold Nuggets with a 63-57 home victory.
And to top it off, LSUS led by as many as 20 points in the second half over the GCAC Regular Season Champion Loyola University before dropping a disappointing 62-60 decision.
Combine the Lady Pilots recent success over the top teams in the GCAC with the recent three game losing streak by the UM Lady Rams, and one has to wonder what the future may hold for the jump started Lady Pilots.
LSUS has been led by junior transfer Edie Leonards who finished the season averaging 10.1 points and a team high 6.1 rebounds. The junior transfer from Louisiana College displayed a tremendous work ethic and attitude throughout the GCAC regular season and averaged a team high 12.6 points and seven rebounds in conference play. The 5’8 shooting guard highlighted a very successful junior season with the first ever “Triple-Double” performance in LSUS Basketball history over the Dillard University Lady Blue Devils on February 1st, 2007. She finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists.
The combination of Leonards and the 2006 GCAC Newcomer of the Year, Jessica Kelly provides a very solid scoring tandem for the Lady Pilots. Kelly leads the Lady Pilots in scoring averaging 11.9 points per game while pulling in 5.9 rebounds per contest.
Kacie Cryer has also come on strong of late and is averaging 11.4 points per game from the forward position, while Janai Sells has pitched in on the offensive end averaging 8.4 points and five rebounds.
Despite boasting some impressive individual scoring statistics, defense will be the key to the Lady Pilots postseason success. LSUS has held opponents to 57 points or less in five of their last seven contests which led to a 5-2 record over that span.
The following is the schedule and recent results from the Women’s GCAC Basketball Tournament
Monday, February 26
William Carey (#7) - 66; Tougaloo (#10) - 60
Dillard (#9) - 64; Belhaven (#8) - 59
Wednesday, February 28
William Carey (#7) at Xavier (#2) 7:00 pm
Dillard (#9) at Loyola (#1) 7:00 pm
LSUS (#5) at Mobile (#4) 7:00 pm
Spring Hill (#6) at SUNO (#3) 7:00 pm
Friday, March 2
10-7-2 winner vs. 6-3 winner at court of higher seed
9-8-1 winner vs. 5-4 winner at court of higher seed
Monday, March 5
Championship at court of higher seed
