Stephen F. Austin
Southeastern Louisiana
Ladyjacks Outlast Southeastern Louisiana
1/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2004
NACOGDOCHES - Sophomore Kendria Smith scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Ladyjacks to a 71-57 victory over Southeastern Louisiana Saturday afternoon at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Ladyjacks are now 1-12 (.077) on the season and 1-2 (.333) in Southland Conference play.
The Ladyjacks built a 10-point first-half advantage, 13-3, riding the strength of a tenacious defense that forced Southeastern Louisiana in to 25 miscues. The Ladyjacks defense carried the team through a 1-for-8 (.125) shooting performance to start the game. But the Ladyjacks quickly found their rhythm, shooting 48 percent for the final 15:44 of the first half.
Sophomore LaToya Mills sparked the Ladyjacks in the first half as they pushed their lead to as many as 19 points. Mills scored all of her 12 points in the first half. She also pulled down six rebounds. The Ladyjacks held a 36-19 advantage heading into half time.
The Lady Lions opened the second half on a 9-0 run to cut the SFA advantage to 10 points, 38-28, with 15:09 remaining. The Lady Lions' Dacia McGowan led the way with her 15 points on 4-of-7 (.571) shooting from beyond the arc. But the Ladyjacks countered with a strong presence in the low post to increase its advantage to back to 15 points as Smith scored 18 points and junior Stacey Szymanski added 13 points.
The Lady Lions rallied late cutting the SFA lead to seven points, 58-51, with 4:46 remaining. The Lady Lions' Shanna Achord poured in 12 points but it wasn't enough as the Ladyjacks hit their free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Freshman Nikki Carr added eight points in only 13 minutes of action, while sophomore Kirby Killingsworth pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman Jennifer Simpson gave the Ladyjacks some solid minutes off the bench, scoring five points and pulling down five rebounds.
The Ladyjacks return to action Thursday when they travel to Monroe, La., to take on the Lady Indians. The game against Louisiana-Monroe is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m., from Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
-SFA-
