BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — The Southern women’s basketball team used a dominant third-quarter surge to pull away from Bethune-Cookman and secure a 73-47 victory in a Southwestern Athletic Conference contest Saturday at Clark Activity Center.

A crowd of 3,152 watched the Lady Jaguars improve to 16-11 overall and solidify their position in the conference standings, while the Wildcats fell to 6-24 in a season marked by offensive struggles.

The game was competitive through the first half, with Southern holding a narrow 28-24 lead at intermission. Bethune-Cookman, led by Tyler Butler’s 12 first-half points, stayed within reach by capitalizing on free throws, going 10-for-14 from the line. Southern’s offense, however, was inefficient, committing 10 turnovers and shooting just 34.5% from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

The complexion of the game changed entirely after halftime. Southern erupted for 24 points in the third quarter, nearly matching its entire first-half output, while holding Bethune-Cookman to 11. The Lady Jaguars’ defense catalyzed the run, forcing eight Wildcat turnovers in the period and converting them into easy transition opportunities.

Southern guard Jaylia Reed, a 5-foot-6 sophomore from Hot Springs, Arkansas, was instrumental in the breakout. She scored nine of her team-high 14 points in the second half, including a pair of critical three-pointers that stretched the lead. Her backcourt mate, Mykayla Cunningham, orchestrated the offense with a game-high seven assists and added three steals.

The most important sequence of the game came midway through the third quarter with Southern leading 35-29. Over the next three minutes, the Lady Jaguars unleashed a 13-2 run to blow the game open. It started with a Reed three-pointer off a D’Shantae Edwards assist, followed by a driving layup from Zaria Hurston. After a Bethune-Cookman timeout, Southern’s defensive pressure continued. A steal led to a fast-break layup for Hurston, and moments later, Jocelyn Tate found Jestiny Dixon for another three-pointer, pushing the lead to 43-31. The run was a comprehensive display of Southern’s superior athleticism and ball movement, turning a close game into a commanding 48-33 advantage by the end of the quarter.

Bethune-Cookman never recovered. The Wildcats, who entered the game with one of the nation’s least efficient offenses, shot just 34.1% from the floor for the game and committed 25 turnovers. Butler finished with 12 points to lead the Wildcats, while Kailyn Peters added eight. The team’s offensive rating of 67.8 on 69 possessions underscored a afternoon of consistent frustration.

Southern, by contrast, shared the ball effectively, finishing with 16 assists on 25 made field goals. The Lady Jaguars also connected on 8 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc, a 44.4% clip. Defensively, they amassed 16 steals, with Edwards and Reed contributing three apiece. Hurston finished with nine points and seven rebounds, and Tate provided valuable energy off the bench with seven points, two assists and two blocks.

The victory completed a regular-season sweep for Southern, which defeated Bethune-Cookman 61-50 on Jan. 8. The Lady Jaguars will look to carry this momentum into their final regular-season games next week on the road at Alabama State and Alabama A&M. Bethune-Cookman concludes its season on the road at Florida A&M on Thursday.