SFA Tabbed Favorite in Preseason SLC Polls
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
FRISCO, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women’s basketball team was picked as the Southland Conference favorite in both the preseason coaches’ and sports information directors’ poll, the league office announced Wednesday.
SFA grabbed 11 first-place votes and 142 points in the coaches’ poll and nine first-place votes and 137 points in the SID poll en route to a consensus selection to win their 17th conference championship in program history. The Ladyjacks’ collection of 16 trophies is the largest in the SLC by 11.
“It’s obviously a big credit to our returning players and particularly our senior class,” said head coach Brandon Schneider. “Those guys have done a lot to get the program closer to where we’d like to have it, and it’s nice to see our opponents give them credit.”
Entering his fifth season at the helm for the Ladyjacks, Schneider has compiled a 72-58 record over his first four years, including an overall mark of 23-13 one year ago.
The Ladyjacks, who were also tabbed as the preseason favorite prior to the 2013-14 season, made good on that prediction last year as they went 13-5 in league play to grab a share of the regular season crown with Lamar.
SFA advanced to the SLC Tournament Championship game last March where they were upset by the fourth-seeded Northwestern State, 62-44. Following the loss, the Ladyjacks accepted a bid to the Women’s Basketball Invitational where they won three games before losing to the University of Illinois-Chicago in the championship. The team’s run through the WBI marked the first time in school history that the Ladyjacks had won three games in a postseason tournament.
SFA returns four players with significant starting experience from last season’s squad. Included in that total is a healthy Brittney Matthew, who was sidelined after 17 games due to an ACL injury last year. The Ladyjacks return 10 letterwinners in all and welcome five newcomers from both the high school and Division I ranks.
The team landed two selections to the 2014-15 pre-season all-conference list, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Porsha Roberts was an automatic selection to the first team after being named to the All-SLC First Team as a junior. Matthew was also recognized with a second team selection for SFA.
Roberts started all 36 games for the Ladyjacks last season and averaged a team-high 17.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She led the squad with a .563 shooting percentage and logged the second-most minutes at 30.2 per contest. The Waco, Texas native recorded 20 or more points 13 times last season and scored in double digits in all but four games.
Roberts, the reigning SLC Defensive Player of the Year, issued 76 blocks last year for the second-best single season block total in program history. She enters her final campaign as the school’s all-time leading shot blocker.
Matthew started the first 17 games for the Ladyjacks last year before her season-ending injury. At the time of the incident, the guard led the team in scoring with 12.2 points per game, tallying double digits in 12 of her 17 games played.
Along with Roberts and Matthew, senior Tierany Henderson is part of Schneider’s first recruiting class set to begin its final season. Henderson started all 36 games for SFA as a junior, averaging 8.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She led the team in minutes at 32.7 per contest. Henderson knocked down 75 three-pointers during the 2013-14 season to rank second in school history for a single season. She currently stands fourth all-time with 153 career three-point buckets.
SFA also returns Destiny Bragman (Senior, Center), Paulletta Powell (Junior, Guard), Victoria Pena (Junior, Guard), LaNesha Middleton (RS Sophomore, Forward), Brentney Branch (Sophomore, Guard), Taylor Ross (Sophomore, Guard) and Adrienne Lewis (Sophomore, Center).
New in an SFA jersey for the upcoming season will be guards Kaylah Starling (Tatum HS), Charisma Alexander (Georgetown HS) and Taylor Schippers (Butler University), and forwards Danielle Rogers (Bishop Lynch HS) and Stevi Parker (University of Tulsa).
Schippers and Parker both bring a wealth of Division I experience to the roster but will each sit out the 2014-15 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
The Ladyjacks open the 2014-15 season with four consecutive home games, starting with Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
2014-15 Women’s Basketball Preseason Polls
Coaches’ Poll
| Place | Team (first place votes) | Total |
| 1. | Stephen F. Austin (11) | 142 |
| 2. | Northwestern State (2) | 116 |
| 3. | Lamar | 114 |
| T4. | Central Arkansas | 99 |
| T4. | McNeese State | 99 |
| 6. | Nicholls | 92 |
| 7. | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 82 |
| 8. | Abilene Christian | 73 |
| 9. | Houston Baptist | 68 |
| 10. | Sam Houston State | 53 |
| 11. | Southeastern Louisiana | 38 |
| 12. | Incarnate Word | 28 |
| 13. | New Orleans | 12 |
Sports Information Directors’ Poll
| Place | Team (first place votes) | Total |
| 1. | Stephen F. Austin (9) | 137 |
| T2. | Northwestern State (3) | 115 |
| T2. | Lamar | 115 |
| T4. | Central Arkansas (1) | 107 |
| T4. | Nicholls | 107 |
| 6. | McNeese State | 92 |
| 7. | Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 79 |
| 8. | Abilene Christian | 72 |
| 9. | Houston Baptist | 60 |
| 10. | Sam Houston State | 56 |
| 11. | Southeastern Louisiana | 43 |
| 12. | Incarnate Word | 26 |
| 13. | New Orleans | 12 |
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