It was the home opener that Southwest head coach Brent Harris and his Lady Bears had hoped for. After a three-game swing to open the regular season, the Lady Bears finally opened the home slate of the regular season Monday and in impressive fashion shutting down Southern-Shreveport before walking out with an 89-49 win. The contest was part of the action on Day 1 of the 2023 Southwest Coca Cola Classic.
"It was a great way to open the season at home," Harris said. "Veronica (Williams) got it going from beyond the arc. Our effort on the glass was very strong (and) our post crew led by Morgan Sullivan was impressive tonight. We thought Bethany Graves had some good post opportunities."
Williams led the charge for the Lady Bears (2-2) with 24 points and was one of five Lady Bears in double-figures. She said that Monday's win was a complete team effort.
"I think that we were all excited and everybody did their job," she said. "We executed well."
Early on, Southwest got off to a fast start. Williams nailed two 3-pointers, added a three-point play and was complemented by makes from multiple Lady Bears including Kalea Storm, Sullivan and Michaela Payton.
Leading 28-5 heading into the second quarter, the defensive intensity continued for Southwest duing the first half of the period. The Lady Jaguars were limited in their offensive approach and did not get into rhythm until the closing moments of the quarter. On the other side of the floor, the Lady Bears continued to roll and enjoyed a 50-15 lead at the half.
Southern-Shreveport tried to get its offense established once again, but the Southwest defense made things difficult for the visitors. Offensively, Payton, Graves, Williams and Kennedee Shelton provided most of the scoring in the third helping the Lady Bears to a 73-37 advantage heading into the final 10:00 of play.
Down the stretch, Southwest continued to pour it on before securing the win.
In addition to Williams' big night, Shelton finished with 16 points, Kara Beth Addison had 15, Graves recorded 13 and Payton tallied 10.
Southwest returns to action on Tuesday evening on Day 2 of the Coca Cola Classic, hosting LSU-Eunice at 5:30 p.m.
