Ladyjacks to Play Two in New Mexico
11/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes
Game 5: Stephen F. Austin (3-1) vs. UC Riverside (3-0)
Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 28 • 6:00 p.m. CT
Site: The Pit | Albuquerque, New Mexico
Live Stats
@SFA_WBB (#AxeEm/#ToughAndTogether)
Team Information
Stephen F. Austin
Head Coach: Brandon Schneider (Wayland Baptist, 1995)
Career Record: 381-131 (17th season) | Record at SFA: 75-59 (5th season)
UC Riverside
Head Coach: John Margaritis (Northeastern Illinois)
Career Record: 257-241 (17th season) | Record at UC Riverside: 147-161 (11th season)
Game 6: Stephen F. Austin (3-1) vs. Boston University (2-2) / New Mexico (0-4)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 29 • TBA
Site: The Pit | Albuquerque, New Mexico
Live Stats | Video
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team will play their first two games away from home over the holiday weekend when they travel to Albuquerque for the University of New Mexico Thanksgiving Classic. The Ladyjacks will clash with UC Riverside at 5:00 p.m. MT on Friday night and then face either Boston University or New Mexico on Saturday night depending on the first round results.
The Ladyjacks are coming off a victory over St. Edward’s in William R. Johnson Coliseum on Tuesday night to improve to 3-1 overall on the season. SFA had to grind out a win against the pesky Hilltoppers. After trailing by as many as four in the second half, the Ladyjacks eventually mounted a 24-6 run to go up by 16 and coast to a 65-56 victory.
The current road trip will be the longest for SFA in the 2014-15 season.
“I’m not worried about the distance we’re traveling at all,” said head coach Brandon Schneider. “I’m a lot more concerned with trying to stop UC Riverside, who is 3-0 and averaging over 80 points per game. They have two of the most dynamic guards that we will face all year long, one averaging 26 (ppg) and the other 24 (ppg). We’ve really got our work cut out for us especially from the defensive perspective.”
The Ladyjacks are treading in unfamiliar waters with the upcoming tournament, having faced only one of the participating teams. Friday night’s matchup against the Highlanders will be the first ever meeting between the two programs and a potential meeting between SFA and Boston University on Saturday would also be a first-time affair. SFA has played New Mexico one time back in the 1980-81 season and won the lone contest, 67-51.
“If you don’t play well at this tournament you’re going to go out there and lose two games – it’s pretty simple. The Pit is historically an extremely difficult place to play. New Mexico lost to Stanford by five points this week if that gives you any indication of the level that they’re capable of playing at. Then you have Boston University who is perennially a really good team in the Patriot League. This is a great mid-major tournament for us. Are we capable of going out and performing well? Absolutely. But if we don’t, we’re going to come back not very happy with our record.”
NOTES
• Hot Streak – Sophomore guard Taylor Ross has started the 2014-15 season red hot. She has scored at least 19 points in every game this season and is shooting at an efficient 62.7 percent clip from the floor. Ross is averaging 23.0 points per game this year to rank 21st in the country at the Division I level. The Pflugerville, Texas native averaged 23.5 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and knocking down 19 of 21 free throws last week to help SFA earn victories over Prairie View A&M and ULM. She was named the Southland Conference Player of the Week for her efforts during the span.
• Seeing Double – Senior center Porsha Roberts leads the nation in double-double this season, accomplishing the feat in all four games for the Ladyjacks to start the year. She is one of just three other Division I women to post four double-doubles so far, averaging 15.8 points and 11.3 boards per game.
• Protecting the Rim – In just four games this season, SFA has put up 25 blocks as a team. The Ladyjacks rejected six shots in the opener against LA Tech and denied eight more against Prairie View A&M and ULM before turning away three shots on Tuesday against St. Edward’s. The squad’s mark of 6.3 blocks per game is the 13th best average in the country. SFA has more than double the amount of blocks as the next closest team in the SLC.
• 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, 76-69.
• 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 (488) and is eighth with a .326 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 Friday night’s game, the women’s basketball team will face either Boston University or New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 5:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. to conclude the tournament.
-SFA-
