Southland Conference Weekly Update
1/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2001
Southland Weekly Women's Basketball - Jan. 16, 2001
Ladyjacks Maintain Their Undefeated League Lead The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks ran their home-court winning streak to 22 with a pair of wins at William Johnson Coliseum last week. SFA maintains its hold on the Southland Conference with a perfect 8-0 mark after dominating previously unbeaten Louisiana-Monroe, 86-67, on Thursday, then pounding Northwestern State, 80-63, Saturday afternoon.
The Ladyjacks, who have now won seven straight, stopped ULM's seven-game winning streak by handing the Lady Indians their first league loss. In the first-place shootout, ULM fell behind by 13 at the half, committed a total of 22 turnovers, and allowed the Ladyjacks to shoot 47.8 percent from the field. SFA's Nathesia Wright led all scorers with 20 points. She was supported on offense by Chaquita Dilworth (14 points) and Patricia Brown (10). Wright also grabbed seven rebounds while Amy Collins blocked four shots.
ULM center Terri Butler got in foul trouble early and was held to 10 points in 23 minutes. The Lady Indians had four players score in double digits - Mykayla Alewine (season-high 19), Danielle Butler (18), Ilona Hollosy (12) and Terri Butler (10).
In the victory over the Lady Demons, it was Dilworth and Latisha Prater leading the way with 13 points apiece, followed by Tami Rater (11) and Wright (10). Jessica Guild contributed five assists and Collins had nine boards.
Louisiana-Monroe rebounded from the SFA loss to take league wins against Texas-Arlington and Northwestern State to keep hold of second place. Alewine scored a career-high 21 points against UTA, nailing 8-of-13 shots and bringing down seven rebounds. She totaled nine points and eight boards against NWLa. last night.
If SFA and ULM stay on course, look for the regular-season title to be decided on the last day of the schedule, March 3, when these two meet in Monroe, La.
Net Notes Shawnta Vanzant, who still leads the Southland in scoring at 18.2 points per game, led Lamar to two Conference road wins at Texas-San Antonio and Southwest Texas. She averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.5 steals last week. Vanzant has now made 45 three-pointers this season, the fifth highest single-season total in school history.
The loss to Lamar snap UTSA's three-game winning streak, but the Roadrunnerscame back two days later to earn a 72-47 victory over Sam Houston State. Julie Rampley registered 9.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 stealsper game.
First-year head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair has the Roadrunners tied for third place with Lamar with a 5-2 record.
Against Texas-Arlington, Northwestern State fell behind early and despite a comeback in the second half, lost to the Lady Mavs, 64-59, for the first time since the 1996-97 season. Kia Converse produced the game's only double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. La'Terrica Dobin led all scorers with 15 points, but the Lady Demons managed only 19-of-77 attempts from the field and 20-of-40 from the free-throw line, which proved costly down the stretch.
The Lady Demons could not overcome the hot-shooting Lady Indians, losing to ULM, 82-65, on Monday night. ULM shot 45 percent from the floor to break a five-game losing streak to NWLa. They took an 11-0 lead before Northwestern could put points on the board and never looked back, going up by as many as 23.
Emily Huey and Katrina Swanigan each had career-best games for the Lady Demons despite the loss. Huey scored a career-high 16 points and blocked a season-high four shots. Swanigan's 15 points was a personal best as well.
For the first time since the 1996-97 season, Northwestern State has lost three consecutive Conference games.
Stacey Turner helped Southeastern Louisiana to two road victories to improve to 4-4 in Conference play. Turner scored 15 points at McNeese State, including going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. SLU won, 67-60, holding off a Cowgirl rally.
Turner came off the bench to tally a game-high 23 points at Nicholls State. The senior forward connected on 10-of-13 shots from the floor, includinga clutch three-pointer with 3:36 left that gave SLU a 55-48 cushion.
The three-game Southland winning streak for Southeastern is the longest since the Lady Lions joined the Conference in the 1997-98 season and marks the first time they have won back-to-back league road games since defeating Trans America Athletic Conference rivals Mercer (68-50) and Georgia State (72-68) in the 1994-95 season.
Sam Houston State is 3-10 this year, but all 10 losses have come on the road. The Bearkats are 3-0 in the friendly confines of Johnson Coliseum.
The Kats lost another player to injury as sophomore Alice Johnson (9.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg) went down with a knee injury at UTSA Saturday. That left SHSU with five players plus a walk-on, so head coach Erika Ritter put freshman Shantasha Simmons back on the active roster. Originally, Simmons was going to redshirt this season, but she saw her first action in the 67-60 McNeese State victory Monday night, playing nine minutes.
For the second week in a row, SHSU's Brenda Abakwue is the Southland player of the week. Abakwue's 34 points and 21 rebounds against McN are both career-high marks and Southland single-game highs this season. For the game, she hit 13-of-21 field goals, 8-of-12 free throws, had 21 rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and four steals. Combined with her outstanding performances against UTSA and Southwest Texas, Abakwue averaged 23 points, 16.7 rebounds, 2.3 steals, and 1. blocks per game last week.
After starting 0-7, Nicholls State has gone 3-4.
Nicholls set season high in the following categories against Centenary last week: points (87), field goals made (39), rebounds (53), offensive rebounds (28), and steals (16).
Senior guard Katie Schreiter, who scored 10 points against SLU Saturday, is now 41 points away from the 1,000-point scoring plateau. She improved her league-leading free throw shooting percentage to 85.7 percent and needs eight three-pointers to move into second place on the school's all-time list.
Jennifer Posey led the Lady Colonels with 18 rebounds against Centenary while Schreiter and Dana Kelley each tallied a game-high 15 points.
Mykayla Alewine scored a season-high 19 points against SFA on Thursday, then scored a career-high 21 points in Louisiana-Monroe's win over UTA on Saturday. She pulled down seven boards in each game, and grabbed eight Monday night against Northwestern State. Alewine averaged 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
Shannan Elliott notched a career high with 26 points in the win over NWLa. ULM's guards - Elliott, Ilona Hollosy, Miranda Hasley and Alewine - combined for 62 of the Lady Indians' 82 points. The 82-65 victory was ULM's most lopsided win over the Lady Demons since a 77-59 trouncing during the 1993-94 season.
McNeese State (4-10, 1-6) is on a four-game slide, having dropped all its games in January thus far. The Cowgirls look to right the ship at home Thursday against UTA (4-11, 2-6).
Southwest Texas got back in the win column briefly with a 67-59 victory over SHSU to snap a four-game losing streak. But the Bobcats lost, 69-58, two days later to Lamar and now face a three-game road trip.
-SLC-
