Stephen F. Austin
Abil Christian
Going to the Big Dance
3/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 9, 2002
NACOGDOCHES - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team earned the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships with their 76-52 win over Northwestern State Saturday in the SLC Championship game. The Ladyjacks enter the NCAA Championships with a 24-5 (.828) record and riding a 16-game win streak.
Early on the game looked like it would go down to the wire between the league's two top squads. The score was knotted at 11 with 12-minutes and 53-seconds remaining in the first-half when SFA went on a 13-0 run over the next 5:11 sparked by a Latisha Prater (Cottonport, La.) basket. Prater finished the game with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. The Ladyjacks then turned to their defense to keep Northwestern State at bay. Senior Nicole Guild (Flower Mound, Texas) set the stage defensively for SFA as she tied a career-high with her eight steals. She also added 15 points on 5-of-7 (.714) shooting as SFA went into the intermission with a 37-24 lead.
SFA was seeking the knockout punch leading 42-26 with 18:00 in the game. But the Lady Demons weathered the storm and cut the Ladyjack advantage to nine points, 52-43, with just under 12 minutes remaining. The Lady Demon comeback was led by La'Terrica Dobin's 16 points. She also dished out eight assists. But eventually the SFA pressure was too much to overcome as the Ladyjacks forced Northwestern State into 23 turnovers.
Junior Amy Collins (San Antonio, Texas) scored 12 points, pulled down nine rebounds and was named tournament MVP. The other Ladyjacks named to the all-tournament team were Latisha Prater and Nicole Guild. The Lady Demons Angela Davidson and Southeastern Louisiana's Velicity Burkhalter rounded out the 2002 SLC all-tournament team.
The Ladyjacks will host a reception at 3 p.m., Sunday in the SFA Athletic Fieldhouse, located at the north end of Homer Bryce Stadium. The NCAA Championship selection show will be televised on ESPN at 5 (4 p.m. Texas Time) p.m.
-SFA-
