Ladyjack Game Notes: vs Southeastern La.
1/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2011
Southeastern La. Game Notes
Stephen F. Austin vs Southeastern La.
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2010 • 6:00 p.m. (CST)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: None • TV: None • Online: www.sfajacks.com
Ladyjacks
Record: 3-10
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/L2
Coach: Brandon Schneider
Career: 309-82 (13th season)
At SFA: 3-10 (1st season)
SID: Ben Rikard
E-Mail: rikardbenja@sfasu.edu
Web: www.sfajacks.com
Lions
Record: 8-4
Last 5/Streak: 3-2/L1
Coach: Lori Davis-Jones
Career: 287-227 (17th season)
At Southeastern La.: 109-130 (9th season)
SID: Kemmler Chapple
E-Mail: kemmler.chapple@selu.edu
Web: www.lionsports.net
FOR STARTERS
The Ladyjacks close out a four-game homestand by opening up Southland Conference play on Saturday when it hosts 8-4 Southeastern Louisiana. SFA picked up a win over Houston Baptist last week in the first of three games in just six days, but dropped each of their last two games to Conference USA schools SMU and Tulsa.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite 30 points from junior guard Tammara Marion and holding a two-point lead with less than 10 seconds to play in regulation, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane got a buzzer-beater from Tatum Beer to send the game into overtime where TU pulled out a narrow 89-87 win in double OT. It was SFA’s fourth loss to a school from Conference USA this year.
THE LIONS
The Lions had won three in a row before suffereing an 85-57 loss on Monday at Tulane. They have made their living at home this year, winning all five of their home games while going just 3-4 on the road to this point.
vs SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
Southeastern has not picked up a win over the Ladyjacks since the 2004-05 season, a span of seven consecutive Ladyjack wins. In fact, those two wins by the Lady Lions in 2004-05 are the only two by the program in the 26-game history of the series.
COVERAGE
Fans can follow the game via Gametracker and with live video via SFA All-Access on www.sfajacks.com. The Southeastern radio broadcast can be listened online on KSLU 90.9 FM out of Hammond, La.
UP NEXT
The Southland Conference schedule gets underway in full force next week when SFA takes on two of the top teams in the league, getting Central Arkansas on the road and SLC West favorite UTSA at home on Saturday.
SINGING SONGS ABOUT THE SOUTHLAND: The Ladyjacks have won each of their last three conference home openers and are 21-2 all-time in Southland Conference opening games, and have never lost a league opener at William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Ladyjacks have won 15 SLC champsionships and are 321-65 (.831) 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, 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 six triples against Grambling, she stands just seven threes shy of moving into SFA’s all-time top five and 35 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 13 games to date and is currently leading SFA and the SLC in both scoring (17.8ppg) and 3-pt makes per game (3.2 pg), while ranking third in the SLC in 3-pt percentage (42.0) and free throw percentage (87.8). 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.
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 16 shots in the four games since she entered the starting lineup, 11 of which are from Sawyer.
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 70.7 percent of their free shots this season, which is third in the SLC. They have attempted and made the second-most free throws in the league, trailing only defending league champion Lamar in that category.
FIRST OF IT’S KIND: In more than 30 years of basketball, the Ladyjacks had played 29 overtime games entering Sunday’s matinee 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 43 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 43-game streak, SFA has hit multiple threes in every contest.
GOODNESS, GOODNER: Already through 13 games of her senior campaign, Decreasha Goodner is consistently showing that she can be 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 her career total with 22 triples in 57 attempts (38.6 percent) Her 5-for-5 performance from behind the arc against Houston Baptist 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 5.5 rebounds per game after pulling down a career high 11 at Texas Southern, and is tops on the team in steals.
FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS: In the last three games the Ladyjack’s offensive production has gone up, and logic would have it that it’s because they are sharing the ball much better than earlier in the year. In the last three games SFA has made 79 shots, with assists coming on 53 of them. Guard Tammara Marion averaged 7.7 assists per game last week and the Ladyjacks had a season high 26 assists as a team against Houston Baptist, the most since they had 28 assists at Sam Houston State on Jan. 20, 2007.
RECORD WATCHES: Last season sophomore Tammara Marion became the seventh Ladyjack to record 100 career three-pointers for her career, and after knocking down six triples against Tulsa she currently sits at 143 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.
