Ladyjack Game Notes: at Oklahoma
12/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2010
Oklahoma Game Notes
Stephen F. Austin at No. 13 Oklahoma
Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Lloyd Noble Center (12,000) • Norman, Okla.
Radio: KTBQ 107.7 FM • TV: None • Online: www.soonersports.com
Ladyjacks
Record: 1-6
Last 5/Streak: 1-5/W1
Coach: Brandon Schneider
Career: 307-78 (13th season)
At SFA: 1-6 (1st season)
SID: Ben Rikard
E-Mail: rikardbenja@sfasu.edu
Web: www.sfajacks.com
Sooners
Record: 7-1
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/L1
Coach: Sherri Coale
Career: 320-144 (15th season)
At OU: Same
SID: Jared Thompson
E-Mail: jthompson@ou.edu
Web: www.soonersports.com
FOR STARTERS
The Ladyjacks are coming off a stunning loss at Texas Southern on Saturday in Houston, and the schedule does them no favors as they next take on the only nationally-ranked opponent on this year’s schedule - Oklahoma - in the second of four consecutive road games before SFA finally returns home on Dec. 28.
LAST TIME OUT
Tammara Marion poured in a career-best 32 points on Saturday at Texas Southern, but the Ladyjacks were hindered by a season-high 24 turnovers and could not hold onto a three-point lead late in the game as Texas Southern pulled out their first ever win over SFA in five tries, 64-63, at the HP&E Arena.
THE SOONERS
Texas Southern is still searching for its first win of the 2010-11 season, having dropped each of its first six games of the season after three losses last week in Colorado. Most recently the Tigers lost a 15-point decision at Air Force, a game which came on the heels of losses to both Colorado State and Boise State.
vs OKLHAOMA
Oklahoma has won each of the last four games in the series after SFA had won each of the first thre meetings. The teams have not met since the 2003-04 season when OU came to Nacogdoches ranked 14th in the nation and picked up a 79-52 win.
COVERAGE
Fans can tune in on Q107.7 FM, or www.q1077.com for the radio broadcast with Ben Rikard on the call for SFA. Also, live video and Gametracker will be available at www.soonersports.com
UP NEXT
After a brief stay at home, SFA is back on the road for four in a row beginning Saturday at Texas Southern. That will be followed by arguably SFA’s most difficult road test when the Ladyjacks travel to Norman, Okla., to take on the nationally-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
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 five triples against UTPA, she stands just 12 threes shy of moving into SFA’s all-time top five and 53 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 seven games to date and is currently leading SFA and the SLC in both scoring (18.6 ppg) and 3-pt makes per game (3.4 pg), while ranking second in the SLC in 3-pt percentage (47.1) and seventh in free throw percentage (85.7). 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.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Ladyjacks are getting their fair share of drive time during the non-conference season with eight of the first 10 games of the season will all be played away from Johnson Coliseum. They will get a slight change with three home non-conference games in January before league play starts, but being on the road is nothing new to this group after playing just three home games before SLC play last year as well. In all, this year’s senior class has played 47 non-conference games in their careers, with 34 of those being away from home.
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. Before a poor outing against Texas Southern that saw them hit just 14 of 23 tries, the Ladyjacks were 53 of 63 from the stripe in the three previous games, an 84.1-percent clip.
A FRESH START: SFA decided to make a change in the starting five over the Thanksgiving Break, and statistically it has made a difference. Senior Chantol Drennan made her first two starts of the season in California and responded with a season best 17 points against Loyola-Marymount, and had seven points and seven rebounds in just fourteen minutes against Denver. After sitting out the first game of the season, Drennan has averaged 9.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in just over 15 minutes of work per game in the last four games and now is tops in the SLC, hitting 57.6 percent of her shots from the floor. It has also improved SFA’s bench output as SFA’s bench has outscored its opponent in three of those four games since making the change, and by an average of 12.3 points per game.
MARION NAMED SLC POTW: Junior guard Tammara Marion was named the SLC co-Player of the Week on Monday, sharing the honor with Lamar’s Kalis Loyd. Marion averaged 26.5 points per game last week in a win over UTPA and a loss to Texas Southern. It was her first POTW award of her career and the first for any Ladyjack this season.
HAVE A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIEND: Point guard Ebony Alexander has not seen the court time that she has in recent years, but the Ladyjacks seem to be getting much more bang for their buck when she is 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 seven games of her senior campaign, Decreasha Goodner is showing 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 tied that high with 11 triples in 33 attempts (33 percent) She had five threes in two games over the Thanksgiving break, and tied a career high with three against Denver. 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 6.6 rebounds per game after pulling down a career high 11 at Texas Southern on Saturday, 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 four triples at Texas Southern she currently sits at 125 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.
