Stephen F. Austin
Texas State
Ladyjacks Drop Three-Point Decision to Texas State
2/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2008
NACOGDOCHES - Senior Nikki Carr scored 24 points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded four steals but it wasn't enough to knock off league-leading Texas State Thursday night at the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The loss drops SFA to 10-15 on the season, and 7-6 in Southland Conference play.
Unlike the game in San Marcos, the Ladyjacks jumped out quick taking an early lead. The Ladyjacks led, 10-3, less than five minutes into the game and pushed their lead to as many as nine points. The Bobcats were winning the war on the glass, and were forcing SFA into early fouls, but they didn't take advantage of the opportunities. Texas State missed seven consecutive charity shots at one point, and SFA made the guests pay.
Along with the foul shooting woes, the Bobcats were also being forced into quite a few turnovers. The Ladyjacks forced Texas State into 13 first-half turnovers, which the Ladyjacks converted into 10 points.
But the Bobcats stole a page out of the Ladyjack playbook to get back in the game. Trailing by nine points with just over 10 minutes remaining, Texas State's Brooke DeGrate recorded three steals on the Ladyjacks' next four possessions to spark a 10-0 run over the next 4:36 to take their first lead of the game, 19-18, with 5:46 remaining.
But SFA wouldn't allow the lead to last for long ending the drought on an Antoinette Davis' jumper, only 22 seconds later. SFA held the advantage, and pushed the lead to four heading into the locker room, 29-25.
The Ladyjacks held their lead for their first 5:10 of the first half increasing it to as many as seven before the visitors from San Marcos rallied once again. Texas State reclaimed the advantage on a DeGrate three-pointer with 14:49 remaining.
The Bobcats' Joyce Ekworomadu and Ashley Cole got hot in the second half helping Texas State build a 10-point lead with 6:31 remaining in the contest. Cole finished the game with 24 points, while Ekworomadu added 23.
The Ladyjacks still trailed by 10 points heading into the final media timeout, but broke the huddle and took the fight to Texas State. After only knocking down one three in the first 38:13 of the game, the Ladyjacks rattled off back-to-back-to-back threes to outscore Texas State, 9-3, over the next 2:33 to pull to within four.
Trailing by only three, 68-65, the Bobcats had the ball with 7.1 second remaining. Trying to inbound the ball from underneath the Ladyjack bucket Cole's pass was stolen by Carr who hit the layup for two points cutting the lead to one.
The Bobcats got the ball to DeGrate who was immediately fouled by Carr. The two teams walked to the other end of the floor where DeGrate hit both free throws to give Texas State a three-point lead.
With only 5.3 seconds remaining the Ladyjacks inbounded the ball to freshman Jordan Ford, who found classmate Decreasha Goodner for a shot at the buzzer. Goodner got the shot off in time, and it was on line but it ricocheted off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
Junior Natashia Green was a huge spark for SFA off the bench scoring 16 points, including a 2-of-5 performance from beyond the arc. Ford added nine points and pulled down eight rebounds, while classmate Chantol Drennan grabbed a team-high nine boards. DeGrate scored 11 points for Texas State, including an 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line.
The Ladyjacks return to action Saturday when they travel to Arlington, Texas to take on the UTA Lady Mavs. The game against the Lady Mavs is slated to begin at 4 p.m. from Texas Hall.
-SFA-
