SFA Prepares for Fourth Straight Home Game
11/24/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game 4: Stephen F. Austin (2-1) vs. St. Edward's (3-0)
Date/Time: Tuesday, Nov. 25 • 7:00 p.m.
Site: William R. Johnson Coliseum
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Team Information
Stephen F. Austin
Head Coach: Brandon Schneider (Wayland Baptist, 1995)
Career Record: 380-131 (17th season) | Record at SFA: 74-59 (5th season)
St. Edward's
Head Coach: J.J. Riehl (St. Edward's, 2002)
Career Record: 35-23 (3rd season) | Record at St. Edward's: Same
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team will play game four of the 2014-15 season on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. against St. Edward's inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Ladyjacks come into the game at 2-1 while the Hilltoppers have won the first three games they've played this year. It is the final contest of a four-game home stand to begin the season for the Ladyjacks.
SFA routed ULM last Friday night by a score of 82-54 to improve to 2-1 on the year. For the second straight game, four Ladyjacks scored in double figures, including sophomore Taylor Ross (23 pts), senior Porsha Roberts (18 pts), sophomore Brentney Branch (16 pts) and senior Brittney Matthew (11 pts). Roberts had a monster double-double, also hauling in 15 rebounds, nine of which came off the offensive glass.
The Hilltoppers are coming off their first Heartland Tournament Championship and first Division II NCAA Regional appearance in school history last season. They were picked to finish fourth out of 10 teams in the conference in the 2014-15 preseason polls. In the last two games, St. Edward's is averaging 98.5 points per game after defeating Huston-Tillotson 96-58 and blowing out Paul Quinn College, 101-40. Former Ladyjack Alexis Fatheree leads the Hilltoppers in scoring (14.7 ppg) so far this year.
The two programs have met just one other time in history, with SFA getting the better of St. Edward's, 78-50, on Dec. 3, 2011 in William R. Johnson Coliseum.
NOTES
• Ross Named SLC Player of the Week - Sophomore guard Taylor Ross was named the Southland Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the period of Nov. 17-23. Ross averaged 23.5 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and knocking down 19 of 21 free throws during the week to help SFA earn its first two wins of the season. Ross, who has scored at least 23 points in all three games for the Ladyjacks this year, began the week by pouring in 24 points against Prairie View A&M to help her team come away with an 83-73 win on Tuesday, Nov. 18. She followed that effort up with 23-point showing on Friday, Nov. 21 as SFA cruised to an 82-54 victory over ULM. The Pflugerville, Texas native set career-highs in free throws made (12) and assists (8) in that contest.
Ross currently ranks 15th in the nation with 24.3 points per game over the Ladyjacks' first three games.
• Seeing Double - Senior center Porsha Roberts has posted three double-doubles in as many games to begin her final campaign. That total is the second-best in the country to date. She is averaging 15.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game heading into Tuesday's contest and is averaging six offensive rebounds per game alone - the seventh best mark in the nation.
• Protecting the Rim - In just three games this season, SFA has already put up 22 blocks as a team. The Ladyjacks rejected six shots in the opener against LA Tech and denied eight more in each of the last two games. Porsha Roberts' average of four blocked shots a game puts her ninth in the country while SFA's 7.3 rejections per game is good enough for fifth in the nation in the category.
• 2014-15 Opening Night - In a battle between two of the top five winningest programs in NCAA women's basketball history, sophomore guard Taylor Ross really shined on Nov. 15 against LA Tech. She poured in a career-high 26 points on 12-for-16 shooting while also dishing out a game-high five assists. Ross made her first seven shots from the floor and had 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting at the half, helping SFA take a 38-31 lead into the break. SFA couldn't hold off LA Tech in the end as the Lady Techsters went on an 11-2 run to end the game and steal the victory in the season opener.
• Preseason Favorites - The Ladyjacks were picked as the Southland Conference favorite in both the preseason coaches' and sports information directors' poll. 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.
• Roberts, Matthew Named Preseason All-SLC - SFA seniors Porsha Roberts and Brittney Matthew were each selected to the Preseason All-Southland Conference teams as announced by the league office on Oct. 28. Roberts makes the preseason team for the third consecutive season and is a first team pick for the second straight year, while Matthew earned second team recognition.
• In the Record Books - Senior center Porsha Roberts and senior forward Tierany Henderson enter the 2014-15 season with their names already etched in a rich SFA history book. Roberts, the 2013-14 SLC Defensive Player of the Year, swatted 76 shots last season - the second best mark in program history - and is the school's shot block leader with 194 total blocks. Roberts also entered her final campaign fifth in career field goal percentage (.548) and second in free throws made (411) and free throw attempts (552).
A prolific three-point shooter, Henderson is well on her way to becoming one of the best outside threats in program history. She ranks fourth in three-pointers made (159) and three-point attempts (485) and is eighth with a .328 percentage from downtown. Also a defensive presence, Henderson is the eighth best shot-blocker in SFA history with 104 rejections.
• Reigning SLC Champs - The Ladyjacks are coming off a historic season, winning the program's 16th Southland Conference Championship after posting a conference record of 13-5. SFA finished the 2013-14 campaign with a 23-13 overall record and became the first team in school history to win three games in a postseason tournament, advancing to the finals of the Women's Basketball Invitational.
SFA defeated Texas State and Boise State at home during the WBI and bested College of Charleston on the road to make it to the title game where the Ladyjacks fell to Illinois-Chicago 73-64.
In his fourth year at the helm, head coach Brandon Schneider led his Ladyjacks to a 9-2 record to close the regular season, including a stretch of six straight wins leading up to the conference tournament. SFA overcame a five-game deficit in the Southland standings to tie Lamar for the regular season crown - the program's first title since 2010.
The Ladyjacks will look to bring back-to-back championships to Nacogdoches for the first time since the 2000-01/2001-02 seasons.
• Returners - 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.
Porsha Roberts and Tierany Henderson join Matthew as the veteran leaders on the 2014-15 roster.
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 team 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, a First-Team All-SLC selection last 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, 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.
SFA also returns Destiny Bragman (Sr., C), Paulletta Powell (Jr., G), Victoria Pena (Jr., G), LaNesha Middleton (RS So., F), Brentney Branch (So., G), Taylor Ross (So., G) and Adrienne Lewis (So., C).
• Newcomers - The Ladyjacks welcome five newcomers from both the high school and Division I ranks to the team this year. 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.
• Up Next - Following Tuesday night's game, the women's basketball team will prepare for their longest road trip of the year when they fly to Albuquerque, N.M. for the University of New Mexico Thanksgiving Classic from Nov. 28-29. The Ladyjacks will play UC Riverside on Friday, Nov. 28 at 6:00 p.m. CT and then face either Boston University or New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 29.
-SFA-
