Ladyjack Game Notes: vs Sam Houston State & TAMUCC
1/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2011
Sam Houston State/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Game Notes
Stephen F. Austin vs Sam Houston State
Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: None • TV: None • Online: www.sfajacks.com
Stephen F. Austin at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011 • 1:00 p.m. (CST)
American Bank Center (8,400) • Corpus Christi, Texas
Radio: Q107.7 FM • TV: None • Online: www.sfajacks.com
Ladyjacks
Record: 5-12, 2-2 SLC
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/W1
Coach: Brandon Schneider
Career: 311-84 (13th season)
At SFA: 5-12 (1st season)
SID: Ben Rikard
E-Mail: rikardbenja@sfasu.edu
Web: www.sfajacks.com
Bearkats
Record: 11-8, 5-0 SLC
Last 5/Streak: 5-0/W5
Coach: Brenda Welch-Nichols
Career: 158-238 (15th season)
At SHSU: Same
SID: Paul Ridings
E-Mail: ath_por@shsu.edu
Web: www.gobearkats.com
Islanders
Record: 2-16, 0-5 SLC
Last 5/Streak: 0-5/L5
Coach: Robert Robinson
Career: 40-71 (5th season)
At TAMUCC: Same
SID: Josh Brown
E-Mail: joshua.brown@tamucc.edu
Web: www.goislanders.com
FOR STARTERS
After evening out its record in the league with a win at UT-Arlington on Saturday, SFA will look to defend its home court against its Piney Woods rival, Sam Houston State on Wednesday at William R. Johnson Coliseum. It is the first of a pair of games on the week for the Ladyjacks as they go back on the road to the Coastal Bend for the weekend with a Saturday clash at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on the slate.
LAST TIME OUT
The Ladyjacks got a double-double from Jordan Ford and dominated both on the glass and at the free throw line in picking up a 67-63 win over UT-Arlington on Saturday afternoon at Texas Hall. SFA struggled from the field for the majority of the day, shooting just 29 percent from the floor, but outrebounded the Mavs 55-42 on the glass, including holding a 25-12 edge on the offensive boards. The Ladyjacks also went 22-for-28 at the charity stripe for the game, compared to just 12-for-18 for UTA.
vs BEARKATS
SFA owns the series against Sam Houston, leading 53-6 all-time and having won eight of the last 10 meetings. The last time Sam Houston won in Nacogdoches was the 2003-04 season when the Bearkats pulled out a 71-61 win.
vs ISLANDERS
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi picked up consecutive wins in the first two games of the series in both the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, but since the Islanders joined the Southland, they have yet to win a game over the Ladyjacks in seven tries. Most recently the Ladyjacks picked up a 69-68 win in the team’s lone meeting last year on the Gulf Coast, with that win helping propel SFA to a share of the SLC crown.
COVERAGE
Fans can follow Wednesday’s game vs Sam Houston with SFA All-Access on www.sfajacks.com and with Gametracker on the same site. Saturday’s matinee game in Corpus Christi will be aired on Q107.7 FM with Ben Rikard on the call.
UP NEXT
Saturday’s game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is the first of three straight road games for the Ladyjacks, the longest road swing of the year remaining for SFA. The Ladyjacks will wrap up that stretch with road trips to Texas State and league-leading McNeese State next week.
SINGING SONGS ABOUT THE SOUTHLAND: The Ladyjacks win over Southeastern in the league opener was the fourth consecutive SLC opening win for SFA, and puts hte program at 22-2 all-time in Southland Conference opening games and continues SFA’s mark of having never lost a league opener at William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Ladyjacks have won 15 SLC champsionships and are 323-67 (.828) all-time in SLC play, having only had a sub-.500 record in league play once, in 2005.
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.
DISTANCE LEARNING: Junior guard Tammara Marion has picked up where she left off last season in long-distance shooting and with 46 threes this year has moved into SFA’s all-time top five and 31 short of Dayna Reed’s all-time mark of 178 threes in a career, and her 46 threes this year is just 17 shy of tying SFA’s single-season record of 62. Marion has been nursing a sore ankle suffered at the end of the Southeastern Louisiana game, but before that had hit no less than two treys in each of SFA’s first 14 games. She is currently leading SFA and is second in the SLC in both scoring (16.4 ppg) and 3-pt makes per game (2.7 pg), while ranking sixth in the SLC in 3-pt percentage (37.1) and second in free throw percentage (88.1). If she were to finish the season with the league’s scoring crown, she would be the first Ladyjack to do so since Anitra Davis in 1999.
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 72.0 percent of their free shots this season, which is second in the SLC. It really came in handy in saturrday’s win at UT-Arlington when SFA made up for a poor shooting day from the floor with a 23-26 effort from the free throw line to help preserve a 67-63 win. SFA did not score a single field goal over the final 5:16 of the game, but made six of eight free throws in the final minute.
SAWYER’S BLOCK PARTY: Through the first nine games of the season the Ladyjacks were ranked in the bottom five teams in the nation in blocked shots, having rejected just seven shots in those nine games with five of those being from junior post Amina Sawyer. But Sawyer earned her first start of the season against Arkansas State and doubled her season total with a career-high five rejections against the Red Wolves. Her presence on the court has sparked SFA in the blocks department overall as well with the Ladyjacks having blocked 26 shots in the seven games since she entered the starting lineup, 20 of which are from Sawyer.
FIRST OF IT’S KIND: In more than 30 years of basketball, the Ladyjacks had played 29 overtime games entering its game against Tulsa, but never had a Ladyjack game exceded a single overtime period. That all changed Sunday when SFA trekked into uncharted territory against the Golden Hurricane, eventually falling 89-87 in the school’s first double-OT game.
COUNT ON THE LONGBALL: SFA has made a three-point bucket in each of its last 47 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 47-game streak, SFA has hit multiple threes in every contest.
HELP ON THE WAY: Head coach Brandon Schneider and his coaching staff have been hard on the recruiting trail since their arrival, and the fruits of their labor are beginning to be revealed. SFA’s incoming recruiting class was recently ranked 35th in the nation by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. The class includes a pair of Division I transfers currently sitting out this season due to NCAA transfer rules - Ashlee Mells (Indiana) and Annette Davis (Kansas) - and five incoming freshmen. Four of the incoming freshmen - Kyaris Johnson (Mansfield Legacy HS), Ashley Bettis (Channelview HS), Daylyn Harris (Livingston HS) and Tierany Henderson (Austin LBJ) - were all recently nominated for McDonald’s all-America honors, while the fifth member - Brittney Matthew (Hightower HS) - is the starting point guard for the No. 9 team in Texas’ Class 5A.
RECORD WATCHES: Last season sophomore Tammara Marion became the seventh Ladyjack to record 100 career three-pointers for her career, and currently sits at 147 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 and currently sits at 362 assists for her career, just seven 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.
