Southeastern Louisiana freshman guard Chelsea Hix scored a career-high 13 points to lead four Lady Lions in double figures as the Lady Lions pulled away late for a 77-68 non-conference victory over Southern in non-conference women's basketball action Thursday night in the University Center.

Southeastern (6-5) won its second straight game, forcing Southern into 26 turnovers. The Lady Jaguars fell to 2-7 overall with the loss.

"What I was the most pleased with tonight was our team's ability to fight through adversity and keep persevering even when things weren't easy," Southeastern head coach Lori Davis Jones commented. "Winning the rebounding battle was huge for us, especially considering we were playing down the stretch with three of our post players on the bench in foul trouble. We had a tremendous effort tonight crashing the boards."

Hix, a native of Canton, Ga., made 3-of-4 from behind the arc and scored in double figures for the first time in her career, while also dishing out a team-high five assists. Junior guard Bethany Sinclair added 12 points for Southeastern, while senior guard Jameica Gross and sophomore center Zevy Ivory scored 10 points each.

Southeastern improved to 6-0 this season when out-rebounding an opponent, winning the battle of the boards, 43-35. Freshman forward Rachel Mackie led Southeastern with eight rebounds, while Ivory grabbed seven boards and junior forward Kristy Carlin pulled down six for the Lady Lions.

Southeastern, which came into the game ranked 11th in the Southland Conference with a 60 percent free throw percentage, put the game away with its best performance of the season from the charity stripe. The Lady Lions shot 80.6 percent (25-for-31) from the line.

Deidra Jackson led Southern with 15 points, while Indi Johnson added 10 for the Lady Jaguars, who shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55) from the floor, including 50 percent (9-for-18) from behind the arc. Freda Allen led Southern with six rebounds, while Nikki Williamson dished out a game-high seven assists but committed eight turnovers Turnovers and poor free throw shooting (5-for-15) hurt the Lady Jaguars' hopes for victory.

Trailing by three at the break, Southeastern recaptured the lead early in the second half, but could not pull away. The Lady Lions stretched the lead to as much as five, but the Lady Jaguars battled back to tie the game at 50 on a three by Jackson with 8:13 remaining.

On the ensuing play, Southeastern junior forward Kristy Carlin got free for a three-pointer to give the Lady Lions the lead for good, 53-50, with 7:58 remaining.

After both teams traded stops, Fredrieka Lewis pulled Southern within one at 53-52 after a short jumper in the lane with 6:39 left.

Ivory, Gross and Hix then took over in the next three minutes. Hix answered a Southern basket with a huge three, as Carlin found her on the right wing. Ivory and Gross combined for the other 11 points in Southeastern's game-clinching 14-5 run. A free throw from Ivory capped a three-point play that put the Lady Lions up, 67-57, with 3:27 left.

Southeastern iced the game from the free throw line as Southern would get no closer than seven the rest of the way. In the final three minutes, the Lady Lions hit 8-for-10 from the free throw line to seal the victory.