Ladyjack Game Notes: at Texas State & McNeese State
2/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2011
Texas State/McNeese State Game Notes
Stephen F. Austin at Texas State
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 • 5:30 p.m. (CST)
Strahan Coliseum (7,500) • San Marcos, Texas
Radio: Q107.7 FM • TV: None • Online: www.txstatebobcats.com
Stephen F. Austin at McNeese State
Saturday, Feb. 6, 2011 • 1:00 p.m. (CST)
Lake Charles Civic Center (7,500) • Lake Charles, La.
Radio: Q107.7 FM • TV: None • Online: www.mcneesesports.com
Ladyjacks
Record: 7-12, 2-2 SLC
Last 5/Streak: 3-2/W3
Coach: Brandon Schneider
Career: 313-84 (13th season)
At SFA: 7-12 (1st season)
SID: Ben Rikard
E-Mail: rikardbenja@sfasu.edu
Web: www.sfajacks.com
Bobcats
Record: 7-12, 2-4 SLC
Last 5/Streak: 2-3/W2
Coach: Suzanne Fox
Career: 165-204 (14th season)
At TXST: 282-237 (19th season)
SID: Rob Buerlein
E-Mail: rb60@txst.edu
Web: www.txstatebobcats.com
Cowgirls
Record: 14-6, 6-1 SLC
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/L1
Coach: Brooks Donald Williams
Career: 31-59 (4th season)
At MCN: Same
SID: Pam LaFosse
E-Mail: plafosse@mcneese.edu
Web: www.mcneesesports.com
FOR STARTERS
SFA has won three in a row for the first time this season after a pair of wins last week over Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The victories completed a winning month of January for the Ladyjacks, their first month on the plus side of .500 this season. The Ladyjacks will complete its final multi-game road swing of the year this week with games at Texas State and league-leading McNeese State.
LAST TIME OUT
The Ladyjacks hit a dozen three-pointers and forced a season-high 31 turnovers in cruising to a 90-64 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon at the American Bank Center. Cheyenne Berry hit seven of nine three-point tries in leading all scorers with 21 points while Jordan Ford was right behind her, pumping in 20 points and pulling down nine boards in just missing her second double-double in three games.
vs BOBCATS
SFA is 49-9 all-time against the Bobcats, but it took a home win last year to snap a three-game losing streak to Texas State. The Ladyjacks have not won at Strahan Coliseum since the 2006-07 season when they escaped with a narrow 73-70 win.
vs COWGIRLS
The Ladyjacks have been in the SLC East each of the past two years with the Cowgirls, with SFA picking up four wins over McNeese in that span. Overall, SFA is 41-8 all-time against McNeese State, including wins in eight of the last 10 meetings between the clubs.
COVERAGE
Both games this week can be heard live over the air waves on Q107.7 FM with Ben Rikard on the call. Fans can also follow via live stats at www.txstatebobcats.com for Wednesday's contest in San Marcos, and at www.mcneesesports.com for Saturday's game.
UP NEXT
SFA returns to William R. Johnson Coliseum on Feb. 9 for its first home game in two weeks when it hosts Nicholls. The Ladyjacks then have six of its final seven games against SLC West opponents to close out the year with only Lamar and Northwestern State remaining from the SLC East.
BERRY, BERRY GOOD: Freshman Cheyenne Berry was only shooting 20 percent from beyond the three-point arc before Saturday's game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, having only canned 11 total triples in 18 games; however, she had the best game of her young career on Saturday and hit her first six threes on her way to 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting from behind the arc. It was such a good day that it tied the SFA single-game record for threes and is also the most triples hit in a single game by any player in the SLC this season.
TWELVE TEAM TRIPLES: Berry was not the only Ladyjack that had success from beyond the arc at TAMUCC as SFA hit 12 of 19 three-point tries, a season high this season and just one three short of tying the single-game record at SFA set last year against Lamar.
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.
MILLENIUM MEMBERS: This year's group of Ladyjacks has a pair of players tht are quickly closing in on the 1,000-point mark for their careers. SFA has had 24 players in its history reach the 1,000-point mark, most recently last season when Whitney Cormier did so. This year the closest to the milestone is senior Jordan Ford, who has averaged exactly 20 points per game in her last four contests and now needs just 57 more points in her final 10 games to get to 1,000. The other creeping toward 1,000 is junior Tammara Marion, who needs just 107 more points to get there. She is averaging double figures this season and if she maintains her average she will reach 1,000 before the end of the regular season.
DISTANCE LEARNING: Junior guard Tammara Marion has picked up where she left off last season in long-distance shooting and with 48 threes this year has moved into SFA's all-time top five and 29 short of Dayna Reed's all-time mark of 178 threes in a career, and her 48 threes this year is just 15 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 third in the SLC in both scoring (16.0 ppg) while ranking sixth in the SLC in 3-pt percentage (35.8) and second in free throw percentage (88.9). 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 72.1 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.
COUNT ON THE LONGBALL: SFA has made a three-point bucket in each of its last 49 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 49-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 149 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 just pushed her way into the school's all-time top 10 in assists when she dished out nine dimes at TAMUCC. She passed Lashinda Winters to crack the top 10 with 375 and is 45 assists away from ninth on the list as former teammate Nikki Carr currently sits ninth with 420 for her career.s
