Madness
3/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 10, 2003
NACOGDOCHES - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team enters the 2003 SLC Tournament presented by AudioVox as the No. 2 seed after the regular-season finale win over Northwestern State. SFA finished the season 15-12 (.556) overall record and a 15-5 (.750) conference mark. The Ladyjacks receive a first-round bye in the tournament. SFA will host the highest-remaining seed Thursday night, from the first-round of games. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. The SLC Championship game will be hosted by the highest-remaining seed after the semifinal round. The game is slated to be played Saturday at 3:30 p.m. It will be televised by FOX Sportsnet.
The Ides of March The Ladyjacks enter the 2003 Southland Conference Championships looking to win their 15th SLC tournament title and a trip to their 16th consecutive NCAA tournament.
The SLC Bracket The Ladyjacks enter the 2003 SLC Tournament presented by AudioVox as the league's No. 2 seed. Texas-San Antonio won the regular-season title and will be the No. 1 seed. The top-two seeds receive a first-round bye. The semifinal games will be played Thursday at 7 p.m. The opening round of the tournament will consist of No. 3 Northwestern State hosting No. 6 Louisiana-Monroe and No. 4 Southwest Texas hosting No. 5 Texas-Arlington. The first-round games will be played Tuesday at 7 p.m. The SLC Championship game will be played Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
SFA vs. No. 1 Roadrunners The Ladyjacks are 26-2 (.929) all-time against the SLC regular-season champion Roadrunners. SFA has won 26 of the last 27 meetings between the two teams. The two teams split the season series in 2002-03. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 2-0 all-time against the Roadrunners in the SLC Championships.
SFA vs. No. 3 Lady Demons The Ladyjacks are 42-13 (.764) all-time against Northwestern State. The Ladyjacks have won 10 of the last 13 meetings between the two schools. They split the season series in 2002-03. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 8-0 all-time against Northwestern State in the SLC tournament.
SFA vs. No. 4 Bobcats The Ladyjacks are 42-5 (.894) overall against Southwest Texas. The Ladyjacks have won 10 of the last 11 matchups between the two schools, but SFA split the season series with the Bobcats this year. SFA is 4-1 (.800) all-time against the Bobcats in the SLC tournament. The lone tournament loss came during the 1997 SLC Championship game. The 1997 loss is also the lone SLC tournament loss for SFA.
SFA vs. No. 5 Mavericks The Ladyjacks are 39-4 (.907) all-time against Texas-Arlington. The Ladyjacks have won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams but split the 2002-03 series. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 5-0 all-time against UTA in the Southland Conference Championships.
SFA vs. No. 6 Lady Indians The Ladyjacks are 38-11 (.776) all-time against Louisiana-Monroe. SFA has won the last four consecutive meetings and six of the last seven between the two schools. The Ladyjacks swept the season series from the Lady Indians this season. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 6-0 against ULM in the SLC tournament.
SFA in the SLC Championships The Ladyjacks are the Southland Conference's most dominant team in the SLC playoffs. SFA enters the 2003 league championships sporting a 33-1 (.971) all-time record. The Ladyjacks have won the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Championships 14 times, with one runner-up finish. The Ladyjacks only loss came in the 1997 season, when SFA fell to Southwest Texas, 77-65, in the tournament championship game.
SFA in SLC Semifinals The Ladyjacks have played in the semifinals of every Southland Conference tournament since joining the conference. SFA is a perfect 15-0 all-time in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinal games.
Home Court Security The Ladyjacks are one of the all-time winningest teams at home, with an all-time record of 318-72 (.815), including a perfect 13-0 record last season. The Ladyjacks have now won 52 of their last 55 games in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The last time SFA lost a home game to a Southland Conference team was an 88-77 setback to Sam Houston State during the 1998-99 season. The Ladyjacks are 10-1 (.909) at home in 2002-03.
Tradition of Winning The SFA Ladyjack basketball program has been one of the most dominant in women's basketball history. The Ladyjacks are among the nation's all-time top 10 with 729 wins. The Ladyjacks are also among the all-time top 10 with a .753 winning percentage (729-239).
Tradition of Winning in the SLC As dominant as SFA has been nationally, they have been just as dominant in the Southland Conference. The Ladyjacks are the conference's most dominant team, compiling a 249-25 (.909) all-time record. SFA has won 14 of a possible 15 SLC tournament titles and 13 regular-season titles. SFA has also recorded four undefeated seasons in league play and has had 36 players named All-SLC.
All-SLC The Ladyjacks had three players named to the All-Southland Conference team in 2002-03. Senior Nathesia Wright was a second team selection. Classmate Amy Collins and freshman LaToya Mills earned third-team recognition. Mills was also named league freshman of the year.
POW Senior Amy Collins was named Southland Conference player of the week for her efforts in leading the Ladyjacks to two victories in the final week of the regular season. Against Louisiana-Monroe she recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. She added 11 points and nine rebounds in the season finale against Northwestern State. For the week she scored 31 points, pulled down 19 rebounds, blocked seven shots dished out four assists and recorded a steal.
Hot Team The Ladyjacks enter the Southland Conference tournament as one of the hottest teams in the league. SFA has won two straight and seven of their last eight ball games.
Great Brit Freshman Britany Vinson had a lot to do with the Ladyjacks 80-73 victory over Northwestern State in the season finale. Vinson scored a career-high 20 points in the first half. She finished the game with 27 points on 11-of-19 (.579) shooting, including a 5-of-7 (.714) effort from beyond the three-point arc. It was the most points scored by a Ladyjack since Stephanie Whitmore scored 28 points against Lamar during the 1999-2000 season. Vinson's five triples against the Lady Demons were the most since Whitmore drained seven against UC Irvine during the 1998-99 season.
Offensive Threat The Ladyjacks game versus Northwestern State pitted the league's top defense, in SFA, vs. the Lady Demons' top ranked offense. But it was Ladyjacks' offense that led the way as five Ladyjacks scored in double-figures. SFA scored 80 points on 32-of-73 (.438) shooting. The 80 points tied a season-high for SFA and it was only the second time this season the Ladyjacks had five players score in double-figures.
Arc Angels The Ladyjacks have two players that are placing their name in the school's record books from beyond the arc. Senior Nathesia Wright is fourth all-time in school history with 96 three-pointers. Freshman Kirby Killingsworth is 10th all-time in school history with her 45 triples this season. Killingsworth's 45 three-pointers list as the fourth-best season in school history.
The Great Wall of Nacogdoches SFA recorded 10 blocks over the weekend, giving them 158 for the season. The 158 blocks recorded by SFA this season sets a new school record, breaking the old mark of 141 during the 1980-81 season. The Ladyjacks are among the nation's top 10, averaging 5.9 blocks per game.
Records Are Meant to be Broken Senior Amy Collins recorded seven blocks over the weekend, giving her 173 for her career. The 173 career blocks is the school record and her 89 blocks this season in the school's single-season record. Collins set the SFA single-game record with eight blocks against Lamar, a record she set earlier this season with seven against Oklahoma. Collins led the Southland Conference and is among the nation's top 10 with her 3.3 blocks per game. She has more blocks this season than she had in her three previous seasons combined.
Block-N-Roll SFA recorded three blocks against Northwestern State. The three swats against the Lady Demons marked the 41st-straight game that SFA has recorded at least one block. The Ladyjacks have also recorded a block in 57 of their last 59 games. During that time, senior Amy Collins has recorded at least one block in 35 straight games.
Millennium Club Senior Nathesia Wright scored her 1,000th-career point earlier this season. She was the 21st Ladyjack to reach the 1,000-point plateau. She is currently 17th all-time at SFA with her 1,206 points.
Looking Ahead ... If the Ladyjacks win the Southland Conference Tournament, they will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships and advance the school's 16th consecutive NCAA tournament. The selection show for the NCAA Championships will be Sunday at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. Texas time) Eastern time on ESPN.
