Stephen F. Austin
Denver
Denver Shoots Way Past Ladyjacks
11/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2010
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Toni Davis led four Ladyjacks in double figures with 19 points, but Denver outscored SFA by 17 points in the second half to pick up a 88-76 win in the consolation game of the Courtyard by Mariott Los Angeles Westside Thanksgiving Classic at Gersten Pavilion.
DU (2-3) shot 61.5 percent for the game, while the Ladyjacks (0-5) shot a season-best 42.1 from the field; however, the Pioneers got 26 points from Kaetlyn Murdoch on 13-of-16 shooting, as well as 21 points from Brianna Culberson and 18 from Britteni Rice to nullify SFA's 29-10 edge in points off the bench.
Davis' 19 points was a career best for the senior, as she put together her second consecutive solid offensive game off of the SFA bench on 6-of-9 shooting and was named to the all-tournament team at the end of the event.
Tammara Marion hit double figures once again, with 14 points in the first half, while Decreasha Goodner and Jordan Ford finished with 11 and 10, respectively. Ebony Alexander finished with a season-best eight points and five rebounds as well.
SFA held the edge in rebounding (29-27) and turned the ball over two less times than the Pioneers, as well as making four more free throws, but it proved not to matter as Denver pumped in eight more shots from the field on five less attempts.
SFA held a five-point edge at the halftime break, but after Ford put in a bucket to open the second half, the Pioneers went on a 12-0 run to turn a seven point deficit into a five point lead. Sha Turner put an end to the run, and four minutes later Decreasha Goodner capped a 7-0 SFA spurt with a three-point bucket from the right wing to tie it up again at 56 apiece.
But that was as close as it would get as Denver scored 16 of the next 23 points overall and eventually built its lead to as big as 16 points on a layup from Murdoch.
Marion had all 14 of her points in the first half to lead the way as SFA took a 43-38 lead into the break. She had seven of SFA's first nine points, but it was defense that got SFA back into things after being down 11 points midway through the half. The Ladyjacks went on a 12-2 run to get back to within a point of the Pioneers, and finally took its first lead of the game at 34-33 on a pair of free throws from Davis.
That was the start of a 13-4 run that pushed the lead to as big as seven points for SFA, with Davis leading the charge with six points in the final three minutes. The Ladyjacks were able to take advantage of seven offensive boards in the first 20 minutes, getting eight second-chance points while the Pioneers were held without a single point after the first try.
The Ladyjacks are next in action on Wednesday at home against UT-Pan American before heading to Texas Southern and Oklahoma after that.
-SFA-
