Stephen F. Austin
SLC Championships - Lamar
Ladyjacks Clip the Wings of the Lady Cardinals
3/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 7, 2007
HOUSTON, Texas - "Survive and advance" is a phrase that has been used to describe tournament play when it comes to March Madness. The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team did just that Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Southland Conference Championships. The Ladyjacks defeated seventh-seeded Lamar, 73-65, to improve to 20-10 overall, and advance to Friday's semifinal matchup against the No. 3 Texas State/No. 6 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi winner.
"It wasn't always pretty, but you do what you have to do to survive and advance," said head coach Lee Ann Riley. "I thought Nikki Carr played a phenomenal game. She played a total game defense, running the floor, driving to the basket and hitting shots."
SLC Player of the Year Charity Egenti would score the first four points of the game, which would represent half of her total points, but the Ladyjacks found their offense in other areas. The Ladyjacks took that four point lead and extended to as many as nine in the first half behind junior Nikki Carr's 22 points and nine rebounds. The Ladyjacks held that advantage heading into the locker room, 39-34.
Despite the fact that SFA never trailed in the game, Lamar would hang tough. The Lady Cardinals cut the Ladyjack lead to one point on couple different occasions in the second half, but the Ladyjacks found ways to prevent Lamar from gaining the advantage. Like she has all season, Riley turned to the strength of her post play, and the Ladyjacks began to take control of the glass.
Egenti led all players with 18 rebounds. Senior Natalie Kizzee came off the bench to provide a much needed spark for the Ladyjacks. With classmate Evelyn Edwards on the bench in early foul trouble, Kizzee provided some quality minutes on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. She finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Cardinals made one final surge late in the second half. LU cut the lead two points, 63-61, with 6:33 on the clock. But just like they had throughout the rest of the game, the Ladyjacks never allowed Lamar to gain the advantage. SFA closed out the game with a 10-2 run to put the game on ice.
Freshman Martina Holloway scored nine points, pulled down five rebounds and dished out five assists. Classmate Whitney Cormier added eight points and five rebounds.
The Ladyjacks finished the game 25-of-74 (34 percent) from the floor, while LU was 22-of-59 (37 percent). SFA also knocked down five three-pointers shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc. The Ladyjacks also continued their dominance on the glass outrebounding Lamar, 51-44.
The Ladyjacks return to action Friday to face the winner of the Texas State/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game. The semifinal game will get underway at noon from the Campbell Center in Houston.
-SFA-
