Stephen F. Austin
Northwestern St.
LadyJacks Return To NCAA Tournament
3/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 10, 2001
BOSSIER CITY, La. - Speed, a second-half surge and a rich winning tradition lifted Stephen F. Austin State University to an 82-73 victory over Northwestern State Saturday afternoon in the women's championship of the 2001 CenturyTel Southland Conference Classic.
SFA (26-6) is accustomed to taking home the championship trophy. The Ladyjacks, who have won 12 of the last 14 Southland regular-season titles, have now won the SLC Tournament 13 of the last 14 times. This will be their 16th trip to the NCAA Tournament and 14th in a row. NSU (23-7) has met SFA in eight Southland Conference tournament championships and the Ladyjacks have won all eight to advance to the "Dance."
Today's tournament finale saw SFA fall behind at the half, 35-32. The Lady Demons started out strong, putting together a 14-3 run at the beginning of the game. The Ladyjacks began making adjustments on defense and tied the game at 31 with 4:20 left in the first half. A pair of free throws made by Anna Means and a jumper by Angela Davidson put NSU back in front going into the locker room. The Lady Demons held SFA's leading scorer, Nathesia Wright, to 10 points while Kia Converse had 12 for NSU. Before today, NSU was 17-1 when leading at the half.
SFA broke the game open in the final three and a half minutes when it scored eight points in a row to lead by 14 at 76-62. The Lady Demons had to foul to get the ball and could not whittle away at the deficit as the Ladyjacks sunk six of their last eight free throw attempts. Junior Latisha Prater, who was named the tournament Most Valuable Player, led the Ladyjacks' rally. After scoring just four points in the opening stanza, Prater tallied 17 in the second for a total of 21 points. She notched her second double-double of the season by adding a game-high 14 rebounds. Four Ladyjacks scored in double digits - Prater, Chaquita Dilworth (15), Wright (14), and Lashinda Winters (12) - and helped SFA register a .492 field goal percentage (32-65).
Converse was the game's high scorer with 24, leading three NSU players in double figures (La'Terrica Dobin, 16, Jamila Newman, 12). NSU shot .400 from the floor (30-75).
"I am so proud of the way our players adjusted throughout the game," SFA Head Coach Royce Chadwick said. "We had some players step up big time. I thought we could get a five-point lead and hold on, but Northwestern State is a great young team and they wouldn't let us do that. We had to adjust the game plan and we're happy to be sitting where we're sitting. We're proud to be representing the Southland Conference in the NCAA Tournament."
Stephen F. Austin will be watching the selection show tomorrow on ESPN at 4:00 p.m. Central time to see where it will be seeded in the 64-team bracket of the 2001 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.
CenturyTel Southland Conference Classic All-Tournament Team
Terri Butler, senior, post, Louisiana-Monroe
Jamila Newman, senior, center, Northwestern State
Kia Converse, senior, guard, Northwestern State
Nathesia Wright, sophomore, guard, Stephen F. Austin
Chaquita Dilworth, junior, forward, Stephen F. Austin
Latisha Prater, junior, guard, Stephen F. Austin (Most Valuable Player)
