Ladyjack Game Notes: at Arkansas State
12/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2010
Arkansas State Game Notes
Stephen F. Austin at Arkansas State
Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Convocation Center (10,563) • Jonesboro, Ark.
Radio: None • TV: None • Online: None
Ladyjacks
Record: 2-7
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/W1
Coach: Brandon Schneider
Career: 308-79 (13th season)
At SFA: 2-7 (1st season)
SID: Ben Rikard
E-Mail: rikardbenja@sfasu.edu
Web: www.sfajacks.com
Red Wolves
Record: 6-6
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/L3
Coach: Brian Boyer
Career: 189-159 (12th season)
At Arkansas State: Same
SID: Van Provence
E-Mail: vprovence@astate.edu
Web: www.astateredwolves.com
FOR STARTERS
After a 10-day layoff for final exams, SFA will play its final game before the Christmas holiday when it travels to Jonesboro, Ark., for a battle with Arkansas State. It will be the last of eight road games in the first 10 contests of the year to open the season for the Ladyjacks as SFA will begin a four-game homestand on Dec. 28.
LAST TIME OUT
The Ladyjacks built a 17-point lead at Grambling in the second half, but the Tigers tied it in the final seconds before falling, 69-64 to SFA in overtime. Tammara Marion had a game-high 22 points for SFA, including six points in OT. It was the first OT game for SFA since an 84-81 win at Missouri in 2007.
THE RED WOLVES
Arkansas State is looking to close out its pre-conference schedule above .500 with a win over SFA, having split its first 12 games of the year. The Red Wolves will have nine days off before opening up Sun Belt Conference play with a Dec. 30 meeting with South Alabama in Jonesboro.
vs ARKANSAS STATE
This is the first meeting between the teams since the 2004-05 season when the Ladyjacks picked up a 13-point win over the then Lady Indians, led by 22 points from Kirby Killingsworth. In all, SFA has only taken on ASU four times in the history of the series, winning three.
COVERAGE
Fans can hear the game live on KTBQ 107.7 FM with Ben Rikard on the call, beginning with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. Live stats will also be available at www.astateredwolves.com
UP NEXT
SFA gets 10 days off for the Christmas break before its next contest, a Dec. 21 battle at Arkansas State. That will be the final non-conference road game of the year as SFA has three home games beginning Dec. 28 against Houston Baptist before opening up SLC play against Southeastern Louisiana on Jan. 8 in Nacogdoches.
SCHNEIDER’S DEBUT SEASON: This season is marking the beginning of a new era in Ladjack basketball as Brandon Schneider is in his debut as SFA’s head coach. Schneider is the eighth head coach in SFA history and comes to Nacogdoches on the heels of a 12-year career and a national title last season at Emporia State University in Kansas. SFA’s loss in his opening game is not an unusual occurence for new Ladyjack coaches as SFA’s previous coaches are now just 2-6 all-time in their debut game; however, with over 300 career wins to his credit, Schneider picked up his first win at SFA over UTPA and is looking to continue a trend of overall early success by SFA coaches as each of the last three SFA skippers have won no less than 22 games in their debut year.
DISTANCE LEARNING: Junior guard Tammara Marion has picked up where she left off last season in long-distance shooting and after draining three triples at Grambling, she stands just seven threes shy of moving into SFA’s all-time top five and 48 short of Dayna Reed’s all-time mark of 178 threes in a career. Marion has hit no less than two treys in each of SFA’s nine games to date and is currently leading SFA and the SLC in both scoring (18.4ppg) and 3-pt makes per game (3.2 pg), while ranking third in the SLC in 3-pt percentage (43.9) and free throw percentage (87.1). If she were to somehow finish the season with the league’s scoring crown, she would be the first Ladyjack to do so since Anitra Davis in 1999.
LAST FIVE NOTE: Points were coming at a premium to start the season for SFA as they shot just 31.6 percent from the floor in the first four games of the year, averaging just over 64 points per contest; however, since taking on Denver in Los Angeles on Nov. 27, SFA has averaged better than 72 points per game. In their last five games, SFA has upped its shooting percentage better than 10 points to 41.9 percent, while junior Tammara Marion leads the way offensively with 20.6 points per game in those five games.
TAKE ALL THE FREEBIES YOU CAN GET: The last two seasons SFA has been a solid team from the charity stripe, and this year it seems to be an effective scoring tool for it again. The Ladjacks have hit 71.1 percent of their free shots this season, which is second in the SLC.
COUNT ON THE LONGBALL: SFA has made a three-point bucket in each of its last 39 games dating back to March 7, 2009, against UTSA when SFA went 0-for-14 from distance in a 65-51 loss to the ‘Runners. In fact, in that 38-game streak, SFA has hit multiple threes in every contest.
PICKIN’ BERRIES: Freshman Cheyenne Berry put up a season-high 10 points in SFA’s last game at Grambling, and in her last four games has averaged nearly seven points off of the Ladyjack bench. She has also begun to discover her three-point stroke as well, hitting 35 percent of her threes in that span after going 0-for-9 from behind the arc in the first five games of her collegiate career.
HAVE A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIEND: Point guard Ebony Alexander was not seing the court time that she was in recent years before missing the last three games with an injury, but the Ladyjacks seemed to be getting much more bang for their buck when she was on the floor. The senior is currently second in the SLC in assists with five per contest, dishing out less than five dimes in only one of SFA’s seven games to date. Last season she finished 10th all-time at SFA with 5.6 assists per game, and if she is able to average at least six per game this season she would be the first Ladyack to do so since Stacy Brown in 1989-90.
GOODNESS, GOODNER: Already through just nine games of her senior campaign, Decreasha Goodner is showing consistent signs of being a legitimate scoring threat this season from the outside for the Ladyjacks. Goodner had only knocked down 21 three-point buckets through three seasons in her career entering this year, with a season-high of 11 last year; however, this season she has already surpassed that with 15 triples in 41 attempts (36.6 percent) Her 4-for-5 performance from behind the arc at OU was a career best, and in addition to her newfound scoring prowess, she has been a strong contributor on defense and on the glass as well. She currently leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game after pulling down a career high 11 at Texas Southern, and is tops on the team in steals.
RECORD WATCHES: Last season sophomore Tammara Marion became the seventh Ladyjack to record 100 career three-pointers for her career, and after knocking down two triples at Oklahoma she currently sits at 127 for her career. If she hits her career average again this year for three-pointers in a season she will move into the program’s all-time top five with a year of eligibility remaining. Ebony Alexander is also inching her way toward one of SFA’s top-10s as her five assists at TSU gave her 356 for her career, just 13 shy of Lashinda Winters’ who holds the No. 10 spot all-time in SFA history with 369.
800-WIN CLUB: The Ladyjacks became the sixth member of an exclusive club with their 73-40 victory over Sam Houston State in 2007-08. SFA became only the sixth women’s program in NCAA Division I history to record 800 wins. The Ladyjacks joined Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, Texas and James Madison as the only schools to ever accomplish the feat. Making the victory more special was the fact that it was Sue Gunter Day on the SFA campus. Tennessee Tech also joined the 800-win club in 2008-09.
