Ladyjack Game Notes: vs Sam Houston State
2/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2012
Sam Houston State Game Notes
Sam Houston State at Stephen F. Austin
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012 • 7:00 p.m. (CST)
William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203) • Nacogdoches, Texas
Radio: None • TV: None • Online: www.sfajacks.com
Ladyjacks
Record: 20-7, 10-4
Last 5/Streak: 5-0/W-5
Coach: Brandon Schneider
Career: 335-97 (14th season)
At SFA: 32-25 (2nd season)
SID: Kenny Bybee
E-Mail: bybeeka@sfasu.edu
Web: www.sfajacks.com
Bearkats
Record: 15-10, 10-4
Last 5/Streak: 4-1/W-2
Coach: Brenda Welch-Nichols
Career: 108-176 (10th season)
At SHSU: 57-114 (6th)
SID: Paul Ridings
E-Mail: ridings@shsu.edu
Web: www.gobearkats.com
FOR STARTERS: The Ladyjacks come into play Wednesday on a five-game winning streak, their second longest this season. SFA is tied with Sam Houston State for the No. 3 seed in the Southland Conference and the top spot amongst SLC West foes.
LAST TIME OUT: SFA outscored the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 39-23 in the second and got a big boost from their bench en route to their fifth straight victory with a 72-60 triumph Saturday afternoon at the Dugan Wellness Center. SFA (20-7, 10-4) recorded their first 20-win season since the 2006-07 campaign thanks in part to a game-high 18 points from senior Tammara Marion. The Houston, Texas native scored 10 of her 18 points in the second half.
THE BEARKATS: Sam Houston State has won five of their past six games to remain neck in neck with SFA for the No. 3 seed in the conference. They’ve won two straight, including a 72-59 road victory at Lamar on Saturday. Junior forward Britni Martin was named the SLC Player of the Week Monday following a two-game average of 23.0 points per game in SHSU’s previous two victories.
vs SAM HOUSTON STATE: SFA owns a demanding 55-7 advantage in the series, which includes a 69-67 thrilling victory over the Bearkats earlier this season in Huntsville. SFA has won six of the past eight games in the series overall.
COVERAGE: Wednesday’s game will be available via live stats and All-Access streaming on sfajacks.com.
UP NEXT: SFA will close out the regular season on Saturday, March 3 when they travel to Natchitoches to face Northwestern State at 2 p.m. The SLC Tournament will begin March 6 in Katy.
FINAL FAREWELL TO SENIORS: Wednesday’s Piney Woods showdown against Sam Houston State will mark the final home game of the careers of Courtney Conwright, Tammara Marion and Amina Sawyer. All three have played their entire career as Ladyjacks and were rewarded this season with their first 20-win season of their careers.
20 WINS: With their 72-60 victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday, the Ladyjacks clinched their 27th, 20-win season in school history and the first since the 2006-07 campaign.
MARION SHATTERS OWN RECORD: After establishing a new school record for most three-pointers (72) in a single-season last year, senior guard Tammara Marion broke her own school record with four made three-pointers Saturday, pushing her season-total to 76 with two games left in the regular season. Marion is shooting the long ball at career-best clip of .409.
TOURNAMENT TICKET PUNCHED: The Ladyjacks officially clinched a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament with their win on Wednesday, Feb. 22 over Lamar. SFA is currently the third seed as things stand today and just a game back of McNeese State for the two seed, with the Ladyjacks holding the tie-breaker over the Cowgirls.
TAKING DOWN THE POWERHOUSES: The Ladyjacks became the first team in the Southland Conference other than Central Arkansas to beat the Cowgirls in league play in the last two years. The Cowgirls entered Saturday ranked 16th in the mid-major polls. SFA also knocked off Central Arkansas (11th) at home earlier this year, and is still UCA’s only league loss of the season.
PARTY IN THE CUSA: With their back-to-back wins over Rice (68-64) and SMU (66-60), and their win over Southern Miss earlier this season, the Ladyjacks have defeated three Conference USA squads in a season for the first time since the 2006-07 campaign when SFA knocked off Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa.
RECORD WATCHES: With six made three-pointers, only one short of a personal best, against Southern Miss (11/26/11), senior guard Tammara Marion became the all-time leader in made three-pointers (184), passing former Ladyjack Dayna Reed’s previous record of 178. Marion also tied the all-time school record for three-pointers attempted on 1/14 at UTSA by launching her 555 trifecta, tying the previous mark held by Kirby Killingsworth.
PRESEASON POLLS: With one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, the Ladyjacks earned four first-place votes in the coaches’ poll and three more in the SID poll and a second-place finish; however, each poll has UTSA in the top spot in the league’s West Division.
MARION PRESEASON ALL-SOUTHLAND: Tammara Marion was named to the all-Southland Conference preseason first team on Wednesday while the Ladyjacks were selected to finish second in the SLC West according to the preseason polls of league coaches and sports information directors. Marion, who was a second team all-conference selection last year, ranked third in the conference in 2010-11 in scoring (16.1).
800-WIN CLUB: The Ladyjacks (871 wins) 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.
--SFA--
