Southland Conferece Women's Basketball Weekly Update
2/13/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
With a 26-game home winning streak, the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks are ranked third in the nation in consecutive home victories behind Kent State (41) and Notre Dame (34). With the Texas Tech Lady Raiders' loss at home to Texas last week, SFA is now the winningest team in Texas at home.
The streak began last season on March 4, 2000, against Texas-Arlington, which SFA won, 76-49. The Ladyjacks, who are 21-3 overall and 16-0 in Southland Conference play, are at home in William R. Johnson Coliseum Thursday at 7 p.m. against McNeese State (6-17, 3-13).
SFA steps out of Conference action Sunday afternoon to finish its regular season home schedule by hosting UC-Santa Barbara (13-7, 7-1). The Gauchos know a thing or two about streaks as well. Most recently, their 49-game Big West regular-season winning streak was snapped by Cal Poly, 76-70. UCSB has a Feb. 14 game at home before traveling to Nacogdoches.
Continuing their success, the Ladyjacks are also ranked second in the nation in consecutive wins with 16 (tied with Delaware). Notre Dame is sitting in first with 22 straight wins as of Feb. 13. The last Ladyjack loss came at Texas Christian, 67-56, on Dec. 17, 2000.
The web site, www.womenscollegehoops.com, has placed SFA at No. 39 in its national poll this week after wins over Texas-San Antonio and Southwest Texas. SFA shot .741 (43-of-58) from the free-throw line, .385 (5-of-13) from three-point range and .440 (48-of-109) from the field last week. Under the basket, the Ladyjacks accumulated 17 offensive and 57 defensive rebounds. They averaged 13.5 assists and eight steals a game.
Sophomore guard Nathesia Wright led her team last week with 39 points (24 vs. SWT), shooting .481 percent from the field and .769 from the stripe. In the Southwest Texas win, junior guard Latisha Prater tallied double figures with 16 points while sophomore forward Amy Collins collected her first double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
In the Southland, SFA is tops in scoring defense (53.9 ppg), scoring margin (+15.9 ppg), field goal percentage (.425), field goal percentage defense (.368), and rebounding margin (+2.9 rpg).
Net Notes Louisiana-Monroe moved closer to a first-round home game in the CenturyTel Classic by winning its only two February home games. The Lady Indians beat Southeastern Louisiana, 79-62, then rallied to defeat Nicholls State, 73-58. One more win or a Lamar loss would put a first-round women's game in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
With two wins, ULM now has a 14-game home winning streak in Southland Conference games, dating back to last season.
In the Lady Indians' victories, senior center Terri Butler was dominant. She scored 24 points in each win and totaled 13 rebounds. She has scored at least 21 points in four consecutive games.
At 13-2, ULM has already totaled its most Conference wins since the 1993-94 season and needs just two more to set the all-time school record for league victories. One more win would give the Lady Indians 14 and assure them of a first-round home game in the Southland tournament.
With four players in double digits, led by senior guard Kia Converse with 19 points, the Northwestern State Lady Demons extended their winning streak to eight games by defeating SLU, 70-64, Saturday. Freshman Katrina Swanigan had a career-high 17 points, Angela Davidson used 10-of-10 from the free-throw line to end with 16 points, and Jamila Newman rounded out the quartet with 10 points. Northwestern had its best free throw percentage of the season, sinking 17-of-20 attempts for 85 percent.
Converse came out of a scoring slump to lead her team in scoring against Nicholls State and SLU. She shot nearly 50 percent from the field (11-of-23) and three-point range (6-of-12) and was perfect from the free-throw line (3-of-3) for an average of 15.5 points per game. Three of her treys against SLU were crucial, including one with 28 seconds remaining that put Northwestern up by nine before winning by six points.
Southwest Texas won its first road game of the season, staying ahead of Texas-Arlington, 65-60. Junior guard Kendall Arant led all scorers with 19 points. She pulled down 10 boards for her first career double-double. Julie Brooks added 11 points off the bench for the Bobcats.
Arant came back two days later for a second double-double against Stephen F. Austin. She tallied 17 points and 11 rebounds.
SWT's Mercy Okorie blocked four shots in two games. Amber Morrow moved into a tie for seventh on SWT's all-time blocks list at 39 when she recorded a swat against SFA.
Junior forward Julie Rampley poured in a career-high 21 points in Texas-San Antonio's 64-42 win over Texas-Arlington. For the week, she averaged 16 points, 6.5 rebounds and three assists.
UTSA is holding its own in the fourth spot in the Conference standings. The Roadrunners face No. 2 ULM and No. 3 Northwestern State this week at home.
Fighting for a top four finish is Lamar, which split two Southland games before dropping an out-of-conference contest to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 83-59, last night. The Lady Cardinals lost four straight league games, including a 71-66 stunner at Sam Houston State, then rebounded to beat McNeese State.
LU is currently in fifth place with five regular-season games left, including the last three at home. LU can clinch a tournament spot with a win over Nicholls State Thursday.
Senior guard Shawnta Vanzant continues to provide LU's firepower. Leading the Southland in scoring, she averaged 17 points, nine rebounds, 3.7 assists and three steals in last week's three contests. She had her second double-double of the year with 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against TAMU-CC.
Senior guard Katie Schreiter registered 14 points in both Nicholls' games last week. She played 38 minutes in the loss to Northwestern State and 40 in the ULM defeat.
Nicholls State will look to strengthen its position in the standings, hoping to stay in the top eight, with its final two home games this week. The Lady Colonels host Lamar and Sam Houston State before heading out on a three-game road swing.
UTA's Tasha Campbell averaged a team-high 12 points per game in a pair of league home contests last week. The senior forward has led the Mavs in scoring in three of their last four games.
UTA's final two home games are slated for this Saturday against McNeese State and Feb. 24 against SFA.
Southeastern Louisiana is also set to wrap up its 2000-2001 regular-season home schedule. The Lady Lions host SHSU and LU this week and will face Nicholls on Feb. 24 before finishing on the road for two.
League-leading SFA meets McNeese Thursday for its last regular-season Conference home game. The Ladyjacks have secured a first-round home game in the Southland Conference tournament. -SLC-
