Golden Hurricane En Route to SFA
12/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2004
NACOGDOCHES - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team, winners of two consecutive and three of their last four, returns to action Saturday when they host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The Ladyjacks enter the game with an overall record of 3-3 (.500), while the Golden Hurricane are 7-0 overall. The game is slated to tip-off at 4 p.m., from the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Ladyjacks will close out their current three-game win streak Tuesday Dec. 21, when they host Arkansas State. The game against the Lady Indians is slated to begin at 7 p.m., in the coliseum.
SFA vs. the Golden Hurricane: The Ladyjacks are 1-1 (.500) all-time against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The Ladyjacks dropped a 73-56 decision in Tulsa last season. Prior to that, the only other meeting in the series came in the 1982-83 season when the Ladyjacks defeated Tulsa, 108-64.
SFA vs. the Lady Indians: The Ladyjacks are 2-1 (.667) all-time against Arkansas State. SFA dropped a 91-73 decision to the Lady Indians last year in Jonesboro. The first meeting between the two schools came during the 1992-93 year when SFA walked away with a 78-58 decision. The only other meeting came in 1996-97, when SFA recorded a 96-72 decision.
Tradition of Winning: The SFA Ladyjack basketball program has been one of the most dominant programs in women's basketball history. The Ladyjacks are among the nation's all-time top 10 with 741 wins. The Ladyjacks are also among the all-time top 10 with a .738 winning percentage (741-263).
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 258-32 (.890) all-time record. SFA has won 14 of a possible 17 SLC tournament titles and 13 regular-season titles. SFA has also recorded four undefeated seasons in league play and has had 38 players named All-SLC.
Home Sweet Home: The Ladyjacks are one of the nation's all-time winningest teams at home, with an all-time record of 324-82 (.798). The Ladyjacks have now won 58 of their last 71 games at home but are 1-1 in the William R. Johnson Coliseum this year. The team's current three-game homestand will be the team's longest stretch at home this season.
Looking to Make It Three in a Row: If the Ladyjacks can pick up a victory over Tulsa on Saturday, it would be their third-straight victory and match their season-high from a year ago.
Being Offensive: The Ladyjacks shot a season-high 30-for-59 (.508) in their victory over Southern Friday night. That is the highest output by a Ladyjack team since SFA shot 32-of-57 (.561) against Texas State in the regular-season finale last year. It is also the third time in the team's last 12 games, dating back to last year, that SFA shot at least 50 percent from the floor.
Steppin' Up: Junior LaToya Mills is a two-time All-Southland Conference selection, but over the team's last three games, she has stepped it up a notch. Mills led SFA with 24 points in the Ladyjacks' victory over Southern. It marks the third consecutive game that Mills has scored at least 20 points. Mills is averaging 24.7 points and 10.3 rebounds over her last three games. Mills is currently second in the league in scoring (17.0 points per game) and sixth in the league in rebounding (7.3 per game).
Career-High: Senior Zedralyn Butler set a new career-high Friday night with her 17 points in the victory over Southern. She was 8-of-10 (.800) from the floor and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line. After scoring in double figures only once as a junior, Butler has scored at least 10 points in four of the team's six games. Butler is currently second on the team and 17th in the conference averaging 10.0 points per game.
Windex Awards: Junior LaToya Mills and senior Zedralyn Butler did a solid job cleaning the glass in the victory over Southern. The two players tied for team-high honors with nine rebounds each against the Jaguars. It marks the first time the Ladyjacks have had two players record nine rebounds in a game since Britany Vinson, Kirby Killingsworth and LaToya Mills did it in a 58-54 victory over Texas-Arlington last year.
Arc Angels: Junior guards Kirby Killingsworth and Britany Vinson are among the school's all-time top 10 in three-point field goals. Killingsworth hit two three-pointers against Southern and is currently fifth all-time with 95 career three-pointers. Vinson hit a three-pointer against the Jaguars and is currently eighth in the SFA record books with 63 triples. Vinson is currently fifth in the SLC with a .387 three-point field-goal percentage. She led the league last season at a .373 clip. Vinson is also currently second in the conference averaging 2.0 three-point field goals per game while Killingsworth is eighth averaging 1.50 triples per contest.
The Great Wall of Nacogdoches: Junior Kendria Smith continues to move up the Ladyjacks' record books for career blocks. Smith blocked two shots against Southern and is now currently ninth all-time at SFA with 64 career blocks.
Rookie Report: Freshman point guard Shanae Green scored the first point of her collegiate career in Firday's victory over Southern. She finished the game with one point, two rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes of action.
Up Next ... The Ladyjacks will travel to New Orleans, La., to compete in the Tulane/DoubleTree Classic. SFA will face tournament-host Tulane on Tuesday Dec. 28, at 8 p.m. The Ladyjacks will return to action the following day to face either Georgia State or Pepperdine.
