Stephen F. Austin
Rice
Big Second Half Propels SFA Past Rice
12/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HOUSTON, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women’s basketball team trailed by as many as 12 in the first half but got better looks offensively and used tough defense in the second half to come away with the 70-59 victory over Rice in Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Taylor Ross led the Ladyjacks (5-3) with 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting for her fourth 20-point game of the season. She also dished out three assists and swiped three steals on the other end of the court while playing tremendous defense.
After being held scoreless in the first half, senior Porsha Roberts came alive in the second frame. SFA’s perimeter players did a great job finding Roberts down low and the center tore the Rice defense apart by way of a 14-point half. She hit 6 of 8 shots in the frame to help the Ladyjacks surge ahead.
Senior guard Brittney Matthew was the other Ladyjack to finish with double digits, chipping in 11 points while going 5-for-13 from the field.
The Ladyjacks held the Owls (3-4) to 29 percent shooting in the second half and 37 percent overall in the game. The SFA defensive pressure, especially in the second 20 minutes, helped the Ladyjacks outscore Rice 39-27 in the second half.
Ross scored the first four points of the game for SFA before Rice went on a 15-0 run to go up 15-4 at the 13:24 mark. The Ladyjacks chipped away at the Rice lead the rest of the first half and a Ross layup with six seconds left made it a one point deficit, 32-31, at the break.
Freshman Charisma Alexander drove to the lane and made good on a pull-up jumper early in the second half to give SFA the lead, 35-34. From there, a heavy dose of Roberts, Ross and Matthew proved to be too much for Rice. SFA went on a 13-0 run to go up 50-38 with 12:33 to play and kept the Owls at arm’s length the rest of the way to a 70-59 victory.
The Ladyjacks forced the Owls to turn the ball over a season-worst 24 times and scored 27 points off those miscues. Despite being undersized in several matchups, SFA outscored Rice 42-32 in the paint.
Junior Paulletta Powell was a spark off the bench for SFA, turning in a season-high seven points in valuable minutes. Senior Tierany Henderson tallied six points and sophomore Brentney Branch contributed five. Alexander led the Ladyjacks with eight rebounds on the afternoon – a career-high mark.
Up next, the Ladyjacks will travel to Waco, Texas to face the 11th-ranked Baylor Bears on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 2:00 p.m.
-SFA-
