Stephen F. Austin
Weber State
SFA Tripped Up By Weber State Late, 56-46
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Weber State 56, Stephen F. Austin 46
The Super Pit • Denton, Texas
Records: SFA (4-4); WSU (6-1)
Up Next: at TCU • Wednesday, Dec. 9 • 7:00 p.m.
Box Score 
DENTON, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team pushed a tough Weber State team to the limit on Saturday afternoon in the University of North Texas Hospitality Hill Tournament finale, but ran out of steam in the fourth quarter resulting in a 56-46 setback. The loss drops the Ladyjacks to 4-4 on the year.
Junior guard Taylor Ross led the `Jacks with 12 points while also grabbing four rebounds, handing out four assists and nabbing two steals. Senior guard Taylor Schippers got off to a fast start offensively and finished with 11 points and four boards.
Coming just one point shy of her second double-double of the season, sophomore forward Stevi Parker registered nine points and 12 rebounds. She was a force on the glass once again, tallying double digit rebounds for the fourth time in the last five games.
SFA shot well below its season average during the afternoon, making 32.1 percent (17-for-53) of its attempts from the field. A close game well into the fourth quarter, a 25.9 second half shooting percentage (7-for-27) finally caught up to the Ladyjacks as the Wildcats inched further in front at the end of the fourth.
Trailing the entire third quarter, a three-pointer by Brentney Branch and a jumper courtesy of Parker gave the Ladyjacks their only lead of the second half, 38-37, with 46 seconds left in the period.
Branch hit two triples in the contest to end the afternoon with six points.
WSU regained the lead by one, 39-38, by the end of the third quarter and didn't trail the rest of the way. Ross got her team back within four, 49-45, with 1:24 on the clock but that would be the closest SFA would come.
The first half was a tight battle throughout. There were three lead changes, the score was tied five times and neither team led by more than five points at any juncture. Each side led for a little over seven minutes of play.
The Taylors carried a good chunk of the offensive workload in the period as Schippers ended the half with nine points and Ross had seven points and four assists. With time winding down in the second quarter, Ross drove to her right and got a tough shot to fall to cut the Weber State lead to 31-28 at the break.
The Wildcats outscored the Ladyjacks 13-4 in second chance opportunities, which was the same breakdown after the first half. SFA won the turnover battle however, forcing 14 takeaways while committing just 12.
SFA returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 9 with a road game at TCU. The Horned Frogs ended the Ladyjacks' season in 2014-15 with a narrow 85-80 victory in the WNIT. The upcoming matchup is set to start at 7:00 p.m. in Fort Worth.
-SFA-
