Ladyjacks Open SLC Tournament Against Northwestern State
3/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2010
FRISCO, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks (18-9/13-3 SLC) locked up a share of the 2010 Southland Conference regular-season title with their 16-point victory at UTSA. The regular-season crown is the 15th in program history. The Ladyjacks now enter the 2010 State Farm SLC Championship tournament as the league's No. 2 overall seed. SFA enters the tournament playing its best basketball of the year, having won seven consecutive games. The Ladyjacks will face Northwestern State Tuesday in the opening round of the tournament. The seventh-seeded Lady Demons enter the tournament having dropped four of their last five, and seven of nine, but are coming off an 84-59 victory over Southeastern Louisiana to earn the No. 7 seed. Tuesday's game is slated to tipoff at noon from the Merrell Center. If the Ladyjacks get past Northwestern State they will face the winner of third-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 6-seed Sam Houston State Thursday at noon. The rest of the women's bracket consists of No. 1 Lamar taking on eighth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana, and No. 4-seed UTSA faces fifth-seeded Texas-Arlington. The SLC championship game will be played Friday, Mar. 12, at 7:05 p.m. It will also be televised on the Southland Television Network.
The Ides of March: The Ladyjacks enter the 2010 State Farm Southland Conference Championships looking to win their 16th SLC tournament title and make their 19th appearance in the NCAA Championships.
Been There, Done That: The 2010 SLC tournament marks the 23rd consecutive trip to the conference playoffs for SFA. In fact, SFA has advanced to the league tournament every year since joining the league.
Out of the Ordinary: The 2010 conference championship tournament will mark the first time in the past five seasons that SFA will not open against Lamar. SFA and the Lady Cardinals set a conference record last season by facing each other in the opening round of the conference tournament for a fourth consecutive season.
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 last season.
Tradition of Winning: The SFA Ladyjack basketball program has been one of the most dominant programs in women's basketball history. The Ladyjacks are among the nation's all-time top 10 with 839 wins. The Ladyjacks are also among the all-time top 10 with a .715 winning percentage (839-334).
Tradition of Winning in the SLC: As dominant as SFA has been nationally, they have been just as strong in the Southland Conference. The Ladyjacks are the conference's most successful team, compiling a 321-65 (.832) all-time record. SFA has won 15 of a possible 22 SLC tournament titles and 15 regular-season titles. SFA has also recorded four undefeated seasons in league play and has had 56 players named All-SLC.
Being the Two Seed: The 2010 State Farm SLC Championship tournament marks the fourth time in program history that SFA will be the No. 2 seed. The Ladyjacks are 5-2 (.714) in tournament play when entering as the No. 2 seed.
SFA vs. the No. 1 Lady Cardinals: The Ladyjacks are 40-8 (.833) all-time against Lamar, but the Lady Cardinals have had quite a bit of success in the series lately. Lamar has won five straight, and six of seven, including a 92-87 win over SFA in Nacogdoches earlier this year. SFA is 2-2 (.500) all-time against Lamar in postseason play.
SFA vs. the No. 3 Islanders: The Ladyjacks are 7-2 (.778) all-time against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and a perfect 7-0 since the Islanders joined the league. SFA recorded a thrilling 69-68 win at Corpus Christi to end the month of February. The Ladyjacks are 1-0 all-time against the Islanders in the conference tournament.
SFA vs. the No. 4 Roadrunners: The Ladyjacks are 32-8 (.800) all-time against UTSA. The Roadrunners have won four of the last six meetings in the series, but the Ladyjacks recorded a 77-61 win in San Antonio to close out the regular season. SFA is a perfect 3-0 all-time against the Roadrunners in the SLC tournament.
SFA vs. the No. 5 Lady Mavs: The Ladyjacks are 41-16 (.719) all-time against Texas-Arlington, but the Lady Mavs have won seven straight, and 12 of the last 13 meetings. UTA recorded an 85-79 victory over the Ladyjacks in the lone meeting between the two schools this season.
SFA vs. the No. 6 Bearkats: The Ladyjacks are 60-6 (.909) all-time against Sam Houston State. SFA has won seven of the last eight meetings in the series, including a 98-85 win earlier this season in Nacogdoches. The Ladyjacks are 4-0 all-time against Sam Houston State in the conference postseason tournament.
SFA vs. the No. 7 Lady Demons: The Ladyjacks are 46-18 (.719) all-time against Northwestern State. The two teams split the season series, with each team winning on the other's home floor. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 8-0 all-time against Northwestern State in SLC Championship tournament. Although the two schools have met eight times in the SLC tournament, Tuesday's game will mark the first time the two teams have met in a postseason opening-round game.
SFA vs. the No. 8 Lady Lions: The Ladyjacks are 24-2 (.923) all-time against Southeastern Louisiana, and have won seven consecutive in the series, including a season sweep of the 2009-10 series. The Ladyjacks are a perfect 2-0 all-time against SLU in the conference tournament.
SFA in Opening Round Games: The Ladyjacks are 17-5 (.773) in opening round games of the SLC tournament. SFA has split its last four opening round games.
SFA in Televised Games: The Ladyjacks are 16-11 (.593) all-time in televised games.
Win Streak: The Ladyjacks are currently riding a season-long seven-game win streak. SFA enters the tournament as the league's hottest team. It is the team's longest win streak since they rattled off eight straight in 2005-06.
POTW: Senior Whitney Cormier received two SLC Player of the Week honors this season. It marked the third weekly honor of her career.
All-SLC: Senior Whitney Cormier repeated as a first-team All-Southland Conference selection during her final season on campus. She finished eighth in the league in scoring (14.5 pg), and was among the league's top 10 in field-goal percentage and steals. She is joined by sophomore Tammara Marion who garnered third-team honors. Marion finished second on the team averaging 11.6 points per game, and led the league shooting .399 from three-point land. Marion has hit 55 three-pointers this season, which is the third-best single-season mark in program history.
Career Highs: The best way to describe sophomore Tammara Marion's performance Wednesday night was, "on fire." The Houston, Texas, native was 10-of-15 (.667) from the floor, including 7-of-8 (.875) from beyond the arc, and finished the game with a career-high 25 points.
Record-Breaking Performance: Sophomore Tammara Marion drilled a career-high seven triples against Central Arkansas. Marion tied a school record with her performance becoming the fifth Ladyjack in school history to knock down seven threes in a game, and the first since Stephanie Whitmore in December of 1998.
Record Setting Arc Angels: The Ladyjacks have set few offensive records during the 2009-10 season. SFA has recorded 194 three-pointers on the season, to shatter the previous record of 179. The Ladyjacks recorded a new single-game record for threes when they buried 13 against Lamar. Sophomore Tammara Marion tied a school record with her seven triples against Central Arkansas.
Career Milestone: Senior Whitney Cormier became the 24th player in program history to score 1,000-career points. She is currently 22nd all-time with 1,124 points.
Double-Double: Junior point guard Ebony Alexander recorded her fifth double-double of the season Saturday scoring 11 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. It marks the 14th time this season that a Ladyjack has recorded a double-double.
Career High: Junior Ebony Alexander set a new career high in rebounds Saturday at UTSA. Alexander pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds against the Roadrunners.
Missed It By That Much: Junior Ebony Alexander just missed her first career triple-double by one assist Saturday at UTSA. Alexander scored 11 points, pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds and dished out nine assists. Had Alexander dished out one more assist against the 'Runners, it would have been the first triple-double by a Ladyjack since Rosalind Polk recorded one against McNeese State during the 1982-83 season. Oddly enough, Polk recorded a quadruple-double in that game (20 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and 10 steals).
Up Next ... If the Ladyjacks win the 2010 SLC Championship tournament they will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The Women's NCAA Championship Selection Show will be televised at 7 p.m. Monday, March 15, on ESPN.
