Stephen F. Austin
Texas-Arlington
Ladyjacks Beat UTA in a Thriller
1/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2004
NACOGDOCHES - For the second consecutive year, the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks went down to the wire against Texas-Arlington in the William R. Johnson Coliseum and pulled out the victory. The Ladyjacks improved to 2-13 (.133) on the season and 2-3 (.400) in Southland Conference play.
For the second-straight game the Ladyjacks jumped out of the gate quickly building an eight-point advantage, 15-7, at the 9:24 mark of the first half. SFA pushed its advantage to 12 points, 29-17, heading into the halftime behind a solid offense and an aggressive defense. The Ladyjacks were 11-of-29 (.379) in the first half while only turning the ball over six times. SFA held the Lady Mavericks to 5-of-28 (.179) from the floor in the opening stanza. But the Ladyjacks halftime advantage could have been greater except for the teams poor 5-of-19 (.263) performance from the free-throw line.
UTA opened the second half with an 18-7 run to tie the game at 36 with 14:08 remaining. The Lady Mavs LaToya Lewis sparked the run going 6-of-9 from behind the arc and scoring all her 25 points in the second half.
The Lady Mavericks took control of the game in the second half forcing the Ladyjacks into 13 second-half turnovers to build a six-point advantage, 54-48, with only 4:07 remaining.
But the Ladyjacks dug in on defense and didnt allow UTA another point for the rest of the game, closing out the contest on a 10-0 run. Freshman Nikki Carr sparked the rally with her 12 points on 5-of-8 (.625) shooting.
Carr drained a three with two minutes on the clock to cut the UTA lead to one point, 54-53. SFA tied the game at 54 and got the basketball back with 54 second on the clock. After SFA head coach Lee Ann Riley called a timeout, SFA ran 19 second off the clock before sophomore Kirby Killingsworth hit Carr streaking across the lane for a layup to take a two-point advantage, 56-54, with 19 second on the clock. Carr then stepped up defensively to pick off a Tojinay Thompson pass and take it the length of the floor for the layup to ice the victory.
SFA outrebounded UTA, 52-29, led by Killingsworth who finished the game with 12. She also scored eight points and dished out three assists. Sophomore Britany Vinson added seven points and nine rebounds.
The Ladyjacks return to action Wednesday Jan. 28th, when they host Sam Houston State. The game against the Bearkats is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
-SFA-
