Southern women battle in First Four versus Sacred Heart

March is a month of madness, and the Southern University women’s basketball team has made some of its own.

Southern has won five straight and nine of their last 10 heading into their First Four matchup against Sacred Heart University at Maples Pavilion on Wednesday in Stanford, California.

The game is slated to tipoff at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

Southern (18-14, 12-6) has not lost since a 57-50 setback against Florida A&M back on February 27. Since then, the Lady Jaguars have won every game in March by different means.

“For me it was a dream come true, a Cinderella story, something you dream of as a kid when you play sports,” said Amani Mcwain. “So just means a lot to be living it through.”

Sacred Heart (18-13, 12-4), winners of the Northeast Conference tournament, is on a five-game winning streak of their own.

The first three games in the streak had Southern dominating their opponents by a 17.3-point margin of victory, including a 64-37 win over Prairie View A&M to open the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament.

The semifinals against Jackson State turned into an instant classic. Down five with 13 seconds left, Genovea Johnson sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead down to two at 61-59.

After two JSU free throws, Aleighyah Fontenot would sink her second 3-pointer of the game with 10 seconds remaining, bringing the Lady Jaguars within one.

The Tigers would make one of two free throws and Fontenot would come in clutch with a running 3-pointer from the top of the key with 0.4 seconds remaining to send the Lady Jaguars to the championship game, 65-64.

The SWAC championship game saw Southern fall behind the University of Arkansas -Pine Bluff by six with under 3 minutes left in the third quarter. The Lady Jaguars would shift into another gear and outscore the Golden Lions 33-18 to finish the game and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament

Southern comes into the game averaging 57.8 points, 31.6 rebounds and nine steals per game. Johnson is the only Lady Jaguars averaging in double figures at 11.4 points per game.

The Pioneers come into the game averaging 62.9 points per game and give up 58.6 points per contest. Sacred Heart is led by Ny’Ceara Pryor at 18.2 points and Sajada Bonner at 11 points per game.

The winner of the First Four will take on No. 1 Stanford on Friday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN 2.

Courtesy: Southern Athletics