Ladyjacks Head to San Antonio to Face Louisiana Tech
12/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2009
The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team will look to put the disappointment of their outing against the Green Wave behind them as they open the UTSA New Year's Classic. The Ladyjacks (5-3) have won two of their last three games, but are coming off an 84-51 setback at Tulane. The Ladyjacks open the UTSA New Year's Classic Tuesday, Dec. 29, with a 5 p.m. tipoff against the Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters have won two straight, and three of their last four, and enter the tournament with a 6-3 (.667) overall record. The Ladyjacks will return to the court 24 hours later to face the Maine Black Bears (2-7/.222). The Black Bears have dropped four consecutive entering Tuesday's game against the UTSA Roadrunners. Both games will be played at the Convocation Center.
SFA vs. the Lady Techsters: The Ladyjacks trail the all-time series to Louisiana Tech, 25-6 (.806). The Lady Techsters have won 22 of the last 24 meetings in the series, but SFA has had some success lately. The Ladyjacks ended a four-game skid with a 66-55 decision in Nacogdoches during the 2006-07 season. Tuesday's matchup will be the first meeting between the two schools since Louisiana Tech recorded an 82-60 decision in Ruston, La., in 2007-08.
SFA vs. the Black Bears: The Ladyjacks are 1-0 all-time against Maine. The only meeting between the two schools came during the 2000-01 season when SFA recorded a 74-71 season.
M & M: The Ladyjacks will be facing Maine Wednesday afternoon. It marks the second time in school history the schools have met on the court. Earlier this season, SFA squared off against Michigan for the only the second time in program history. The last time SFA played both Michigan and Maine was in 2000-01. That season the Ladyjacks won 26 games and advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Arc Angels: The Ladyjacks are one of the league's top three-point shooting teams. SFA is averaging 6.8 three-pointers per game, but they have really stepped it up over the course of the last three games. The Ladyjacks have knocked down 26 (8.7 pg) threes in the team's last three contests.
Model of Consistency: Senior Whitney Cormier entered the 2009-10 season with high expectations as a first-team all-conference selection, and she is living up to the preseason hype. Cormier leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg), and has scored in double figures in seven of the team's eight games this season.
Scoring Punch off the Bench: Sophomore Schera Sampson came off the bench to score 12 points, pull down seven rebounds, block two shots, record two steals and dish out one assist. It marked the third time this season that Sampson has scored in double figures, and her 12-point outing is a new season high.
Great Wall of Nacogdoches: Sophomore Schera Sampson blocked two shots last Sunday at Tulane. Sampson is becoming one of the league's top shot blockers. She has blocked eight shots in the team's past three games, and is currently second in the conference averaging 1.5 blocks per game.
Approaching the Milestone: Senior Whitney Cormier led the Ladyjacks with a team-high 16 points at Tulane. She has scored in double figures in all but one game this season. Cormier needs only 144 points to become the 24th player in school history to score 1,000 points in their career.
Up Next ... The Ladyjacks return to action Monday, Jan. 4, when they travel to Tulsa, Okla., to take on the Golden Hurricane. The game against Tulsa is slated to begin at 7 p.m., and will be the Ladyjacks' final tune up prior to opening Southland Conference play.
