Stephen F. Austin
Southeastern Louisiana
Ladyjacks Record Impressive Win Over Southeastern Louisiana
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Southeastern Louisiana hit the first bucket of the game, but that would be as close to a win as it would get as the Ladyjacks cruised to an 85-60 victory Saturday evening in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. Stephen F. Austin improves to 14-9 overall, and 9-3 in conference play.
"I'm very pleased with the win," said head coach Lee Ann Riley. "I really thought the girls played hard. Our defense really took them away from what they wanted to do offensively. I thought there was one point in the game where they could have made a run at us, but our defense really stepped up and put an end to it."
After taking their only lead of the game, the Lady Lions found themselves caught in a 14-2 SFA run giving the Ladyjacks a 10-point lead it would never relinquish. The run was spurred on by the Ladyjacks' defensive pressure which forced 13 first-half turnovers. SFA converted the turnovers into points and the rout was on.
The Ladyjacks pushed their lead to as many as 21 points several times in the first half, and took that advantage into the locker room. While SFA shot nearly 54 percent in the opening half, Southeastern Louisiana never recovered from a 1-for-7 start.
Along with the defensive pressure, the Ladyjacks received some strong play from its bench, including the return of sophomore Schera Sampson who finished the game with 10 points and six rebounds. SFA went into half time with a 24-6 advantage in bench scoring. The Ladyjacks finished the game with 52 points coming off the bench.
"We went through a stretch earlier this year where I didn't think our bench played all that well," said Riley. "Over the course of the last couple of games our bench has done an incredible job. It was nice to see Schera back on the floor as well. She's not quite back to form, but she really gave us some solid minutes tonight.'
SFA finished the game 33-of-66 (.500) from the floor, while holding the Lady Lions to a 34-percent clip, including just 3-of-16 (.188) from beyond the arc. SFA was led by 19 points from sophomore Courtney Conwright, who finished the game 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Senior Whitney Cormier added 16 points, while junior Chantol Drennan came off the bench to add 10.
The Ladyjacks return to action Saturday when they host Texas State. The game against the Bobcats is slated to begin at 7 p.m. from the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
-SFA-
