Stephen F. Austin
UT Arlington
Ladyjacks Edged By UT Arlington, 67-63
12/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
UT Arlington 67, Stephen F. Austin 63
William R. Johnson Coliseum • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (4-2); UTA (3-3)
Up Next: at UNT Hospitality Hill Tournament • Dec. 4-5
UTA 67, SFA 63 
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team battled hard for 40 minutes against a physical UT Arlington side, but fell just short, 67-63, inside William R. Johnson Coliseum on Tuesday night. The loss sets the Ladyjacks back to 4-2 on the year and snaps their 17-game home winning streak - the eighth longest in the nation entering the contest.
Junior guards Taylor Ross and Brentney Branch found success against the lengthy UTA squad. Ross tallied a game-high 19 points while Branch finished with 16 on 6-for-13 shooting. Ross converted 11 of 15 attempts from the free throw line, where she did most of her damage offensively as a result of good dribble penetration. She tied sophomore Charisma Alexander for a team-high three assists and added two steals.
Coming up with big shot after big shot, Branch ended the night with four made threes on seven tries. She hit crucial shots as time was winding down in each of the first three quarters to help keep the Ladyjacks in the game.
After a layup by Adrienne Lewis put SFA up 42-39 midway through the third quarter, the Lady Mavericks went on an 11-2 run to push their way back in front, 50-44. Branch was able to stop the bleeding though, hitting a pull-up jumper with seven seconds left in the period to make it a 50-46 ballgame.
UTA flexed its muscle once again to start the fourth, using a 9-2 spurt to build its biggest lead of the game, 59-48. But once again, a three-pointer off Branch's fingertips knocked the lead back to single digits. The Ladyjacks would continue to scratch and claw their way back until an off-balanced layup by Ross made it a two-point UTA lead at 65-63 with just 13 seconds to play.
A pair of Lady Maverick free throws would ice the game on the next possession and put an end to the SFA comeback charge.
The Ladyjacks shot the ball at a 48.0 percent clip (12-for-25) in the second half to fuel the valiant rally. They ended the game shooting 44.2 percent, including a 41.2 percent showing from outside (7-for-17).
The Lady Mavericks were able to make 51.0 percent of their shots on the other end thanks in large part to an efficient 8-for-11 night from Rebekah VanDijk. The 6-5 center was a force down low, registering 18 points and 13 rebounds. She helped UTA claim a 30-22 advantage in the paint, which proved to be the difference in the game.
The Ladyjacks made their living at the free throw line in the first half, hitting 13 of 18 shots from the charity stripe. The success at the line was important as points were hard to come by in the first half because of solid defensive efforts being put forth by each team.
One player that didn't have any trouble getting started against the tough UTA defense was Branch. The Houston native splashed in a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter to cut the Lady Maverick lead to 18-13.
Branch later knocked down a deep triple from the wing late in the second quarter and followed it up with a fast break layup to help SFA regain the lead at 31-28, capping a 10-2 run.
Ross, who was 6-for-7 from the free throw line in the half, joined Branch with eight points in the period. UTA got a shot to fall at the buzzer to take a 33-31 advantage into the intermission.
Senior guard Taylor Schippers also had a good evening for the Ladyjacks, contributing nine points, three rebounds and giving out two assists. She has scored at least nine points in four straight games.
Sophomore forward Stevi Parker grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and added five points, despite being plagued with foul trouble most of the night.
The Ladyjacks will look to rebound this weekend in Denton at the University of North Texas Hospitality Hill Tournament, where they will face IUPUI on Friday night at 5:00 p.m. and Weber State on Saturday at noon.
-SFA-
