Southland Conference Weekly Women's Basketball Update
2/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2001
It has become a regular occurrence. The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks are the Southland Conference regular-season champions. SFA clinched its 12th title in 14 years with a 65-52 victory over Texas-Arlington Saturday.
Overall, the Ladyjacks are 23-4 and undefeated at 18-0 in Southland play. They are closer to becoming the first team in Conference history to go 20-0 in a season. Since 1983, on seven different occasions, an SLC squad has gone undefeated in league action. Stephen F. Austin has done so four of those seven times.
In the game at UTA, SFA had three players score in double figures - junior Latisha Prater (14), senior Tami Rater (12) and sophomore Nathesia Wright (10). As a team, SFA shot .418 (28-of-67) from the field and .600 (6-of-10) from the free-throw line. Under the basket, the Ladyjacks collected 40 rebounds.
For UTA in her final home game, senior Renee Wharekura scored a game-high 18 points, added seven rebounds, and tallied career bests in steals with six and blocks with three.
Tournament News A few sure things have been determined at this point. SFA is the number one seed and UTSA is number four. The Ladyjacks and the Roadrunners, along with Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State, have secured first-round home games. Also, two other teams have clinched a spot in the CenturyTel Classic - Southeastern Louisiana and Lamar.
Call it parity, well-planned scheduling or both. The final weekend of the regular season will determine how ULM and NWLa. will finish at numbers two and three, and will solidify seeds five through eight. Each game has an impact on the postseason.
UTSA has had an incredible turnaround. The Roadrunners finished 7-20, 3-15 last season. Under first-year head coach Rae Blair, the 'Runners are currently 14-11, 12-6 and are headed to the SLC Tournament for the first time since 1998. Enjoying a four-game winning streak, UTSA hosts Nicholls State and SLU this weekend.
NICH, UTA, Southwest Texas and Sam Houston State all still have a shot at the final two tournament berths. Only McNeese State has been eliminated.
Net Notes Northwestern State is red hot. The Lady Demons are riding an 11-game winning streak and have not lost since Jan. 15 against Louisiana-Monroe.
Northwestern is 13-0 when scoring 66 or more points this season and is averaging 69.8 points per game.
The Lady Demons have outrebounded opponents offensively by 130 rebounds. In Conference play, they have outrebounded SLC teams offensively by 81.
The second half of a game is when Northwestern puts away its foes. It outscores opponents by 137 points in the second half to only 35 points in the first.
Kia Converse has made more than three-pointers than the rest of the Lady Demon squad combined, 56 to 40. She is shooting .310 percent from behind the arc and has attempted more threes than the team, 181 to 126.
Converse scored an individual- and team season-high 26 points in the 83-66 victory over McNeese. She hit an individual- and team season-high six treys and needs just 10 to set the Conference career record and the Northwestern State school records. Converse has averaged almost 20 points a game over the last three games and 18 points over the last five.
ULM defeated McNeese State, 78-70, Thursday in the Lady Indians' only game of the week. With the win, ULM set a school record for Conference wins in a season (15) and also locked up a top-three finish in the final SLC standings. It was also the Lady Indians' seventh league road win of the season, also a school record.
In the win over the Cowgirls, senior Terri Butler produced her sixth double-double of the year with a season-high 25 points and 12 rebounds. She registered a .917 free-throw shooting percentage, sinking 11 of 12 attempts. Butler has scored at least 21 points in five of her last seven games and is averaging 18.7 points over those seven games.
Senior Ilona Hollosy added 17 points and junior Mykayla Alewine had 15 against McNeese.
Stacey Turner scored a season-high 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting (.625) in Southeastern Louisiana's final home game, a 93-84 win over Nicholls State. She added eight rebounds and a steal to help SLU clinch at least sixth place in the Southland.
Katrina Joshua contributed a season-high 16 points as SLU, which has won for the 11th time in the last 17 games, put four players in double figures. Ann Webster had 15 points and dished out eight assists. Deirdre Allen poured in 14 points.
Ten league wins are the most by the Lady Lions since 1994-95 when they went 13-3 in the Trans America Athletic Conference. Ninety-three points is the most scored by any SLU women's team in a Southland Conference game.
Southeastern swept the Lady Colonels for the first time since 1997-98 when they joined the SLC.
On Nicholls' side, 84 points ties the most points ever scored by a Lady Colonel team in a Southland game. They tallied 84 in a 99-84 loss to then-SLC member North Texas on Jan. 18, 1996.
Senior Katie Schreiter notched her first career double-double against SLU, scoring 19 points and pulling down 10 boards. She nearly had a triple-double, handing out eight assists. her 10 rebounds are a career best. Schreiter has played 40 minutes in Nicholls' last four games.
Freshman Anika Holmes found double figures for the first time in her career, scoring 15 points in 38 minutes.
Junior forward Tremaine Robinson missed the SLU contest due to a strained tendon in her left foot.
Although she did not play, sophomore point guard Deandra Walter was cleared to play and dressed out for Saturday's game, marking the first time in six games the Houston product had suited up. She has been out with a shoulder injury.
Renda Churman, senior center for UTSA, has led her team in scoring the last five games. She scored 23 points against Sam Houston State, then tallied 14 points against Lamar for an average of 18.5 for the week. She also pulled down 4.5 rebounds per game.
Shawnta Vanzant tied the Southland Conference single-season record for most three-pointers made when she nailed her 81st Saturday against UTSA. Averaging 3.24 treys per game this year, Vanzant will probably own the SLC record in the Cardinals' final regular-season game this Saturday at home against SHSU.
Vanzant enters the final weekend of the regular season as the league's leading scorer, which she has held for most of the year, averaging 18.7 points per game.
Southwest Texas won two consecutive road games after posting a 1-10 road record through the first 11 games away from Strahan Coliseum.
SWT sophomore Mercy Okorie averaged 11.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in two Bobcat wins. She tallied her first career double-double in the game against SHSU, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, both career highs. Eight of her boards were on the offensive end. She also dished out two assists and blocked three shots.
SFA senior Tami Rater registered her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds against UTA. Rater leads the league in field goal percentage at .509 (89-of-175).
McNeese State senior Eunice Mayo had nearly a triple-double, but not on the usual combination of points-rebounds-assists. Mayo poured in a team-high 20 points and got 10 rebounds versus Northwestern State. She also blocked eight shots, a Conference season high. -SLC-
