Southland Conference Weekly Basketball Update
2/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2001
Tying her season high with 23 points, 16 in a pivotal second-half outburst, senior Kia Converse led Northwestern State past Southwest Texas, 78-67, Saturday afternoon, extending the Lady Demons' winning streak to 10 games.
Coupled with Louisiana-Monroe's loss at Texas-San Antonio, the Lady Demons are now just one game out of second place in the Southland Conference standings with three games remaining.
The game's leading scorer, Converse guided four Lady Demons into double figures. Sophomore Angela Davidson had 12, sophomore La'Terrica Dobin had 11, all from the free-throw line, and senior Jamila Newman scored 10.
Converse, who has been in a three-point scoring slump, nailed four treys in the game, all in the second stanza. Northwestern's second-leading career three-point shooter is just 16 away from breaking the school and Southland Conference record of 213, held by former Lady Demon Sonya Bearden (1996-99).
Converse, a forward from Napoleanville, La., also blocked two shots and was nearly perfect from the charity stripe, sinking nine of her 10 attempts, including 5-of-6 in the second half, leading the Lady Demon domination in free throws for the night. Northwestern State registered 76 percent shooting from the free-throw line, making 28-of-37 attempts. Southwest Texas, which went to the line 15 times, made 10 for 67 percent shooting.
Two days earlier, Northwestern edge upstart UTSA (11-11, 9-6), 63-61, in San Antonio. A pair of clutch free throws by Converse with five seconds remaining proved to be the deciding factor in the Lady Demons' come-from-behind victory.
Northwestern's current winning streak began against SWT in Prather Coliseum over a month ago, and with the win, the Lady Demons avenged a 78-59 loss to the Bobcats last season on their last trip to San Marcos.
The Lady Demons now travel to McNeese State (6-19, 3-15) for a Saturday contest with the Cowgirls at 5:30 p.m. before closing out the regular season with a pair of games against league-leader Stephen F. Austin (22-4, 17-0) and Texas-Arlington (6-18, 4-13).
Net Notes Louisiana-Monroe was stymied in its effort to set a school record for Conference wins in a season when Texas-San Antonio beat the Lady Indians, 65-42, Saturday in San Antonio. The loss, ULM's worst of the season and just the fourth in the last 20 games, left the Lady Indians at 14 Southland wins. ULM won number 14, which tied the school mark for most league wins, with a 66-56 win at Southwest Texas Thursday.
Guard Shannan Elliott hit all five of her second-half shots, including three three-pointers, as ULM pulled away from SWT for its fifth straight win. Elliott finished with 15 points. Center Terri Butler had 18 points and tied a career-high with 18 rebounds.
Butler, who hails from San Antonio, found the going tougher against UTSA as she was held to a season-low six points. In 24 games this season, Butler has been held to single digits only twice, both times against the Roadrunners. Without her production and with the Lady Indians shooting a miserable 19.2 percent from the field, ULM was held to 12 first-half point, its lowest ever.
Despite the loss to UTSA, ULM is still a game in front of third-place Northwestern State and has clinched a first-round home game in the CenturyTel Classic. The Lady Indians play McNeese State Thursday on the road, then finish at home against Texas-Arlington and Stephen F. Austin.
Renda Churman averaged 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists last week as UTSA went 2-1 to clinch a berth in the Southland Conference postseason tournament for only the third time. After the 63-61 loss to Northwestern State, UTSA surprised ULM and then trounced SWT, 73-50, last night. Churman led the 'Runners in scoring all three games to increase her total to nine times this season.
Katie Schreiter led Nicholls State to two key victories last week over Lamar and Sam Houston State to position the Lady Colonels in seventh place in the Conference standings and a chance to play in the CenturyTel Classic for the second time in three seasons. Schreiter, earning her second player of the week honor this season, averaged 24.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in the two games, including a career-high 28 points against SHSU. She tied the Southland Conference record for most free throws made in a game by hitting all 16 attempts. This is now a Nicholls' school record.
Nicholls State avenged its 85-46 defeat at SHSU in Huntsville earlier this season. With the 73-66 victory, the Lady Colonels doubled their overall win total (8) from last year (4) and have three times as many Southland wins (6).
Deirdre Allen posted her fourth double-double of the season as she scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Southeastern Louisiana to a 83-68 come-from-behind victory over SHSU Thursday. Ann Webster scored a game-high 15 points to lead four players in double figures for SLU, which won its first game of the season when trailing at halftime.
Brenda Abakwue led SHSU, which had its two-game win streak snapped, with 22 points and Rotasha Allison added 14. Stacy Allen, the Southland's second-leading scorer at 17.2 points per game, was held to six points as she went 0-for-8 from the floor.
Saturday afternoon, SLU's Tamika Williams scored a career-high 16 points and Webster added 12, including a clutch basket in the final seconds, to lift the Lady Lions to a 61-58 win over Lamar. With the victory, Southeastern moved into a tie for fifth place in the Conference with LU with three regular-season games remaining. SLU trails Texas-San Antonio by one game and closes out the regular schedule at UTSA on March 3.
Nakita Miles led the Lady Cardinals with 16 points while Shawnta Vanzant, the league's leading scorer at 18.9 points per game, tallied 15.
Lamar is winless in Hammond, La., in five tries and trails the all-time series with SLU, 8-5. LU is on a downward slide, having lost seven of its last eight games. The Lady Cardinals must take advantage of wrapping up the regular season at home if they want a first-round home contest in the tournament. They host SWT and UTSA this week, then end with SHSU on March 3.
Vanzant scored 22 points in the Nicholls loss and was perfect from the free-throw line last week on 10 attempts (six vs. Nicholls, four vs. SLU).
Kia Converse tied her season scoring high with 23 points against Southwest Texas. As Northwestern State went on a 17-3 run in the second half, Converse scored 16 of 17 points, including hitting all four three pointers and three in a row on consecutive trips down the court to take the game from a one-point Lady Demon lead to a 15-point lead. She is just 16 three pointers away from breaking the Southland Conference career record of 213.
UTA's Sheena Johnson poured in 19 points and grabbed 18 boards (11 offensive) for her ninth double-double of the season in a 70-64 win over McNeese. The freshman forward is inching closer to the league's top rebounding spot. She is averaging 10.7 rebounds to 11.1 by SHSU'S Abakwue.
The reign at the top didn't last as Cal State-Santa Barbara ended SFA's one-week claim to being the winningest home team in Texas. The Gauchos' 62-57 win over the Ladyjacks halted a 27 home-game winning streak and also a 16-game winning streak.
Nicholls State and SFA are the only two teams that have finished their home regular-season schedule. They each have three road games remaining.
The playoff picture is taking shape. SFA, ULM and NWLa. have secured first-round home games. UTSA, LU and SLU have also qualified for the tournament and are battling for the final home-court spot. The last two seeds in the tournament are still up for grabs between NICH, SHSU, UTA and SWT. McNeese State has been eliminated. -SLC-
