Stephen F. Austin
Northwestern State
Ladyjacks Win 2014-15 SLC Title Outright
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
SFA 56, NWLA 45
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - There will be no sharing of the 2014-15 Southland Conference title, as the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team took down Northwestern State 56-45 on Thursday night in William R. Johnson Coliseum to clinch the program's 17th league championship outright.
The Ladyjacks, who secured a share of the crown last Saturday at Houston Baptist, have won back-to-back championships for the first time since 2001/2002. The outright feat is the first for the program since 2006.
SFA has won 10 straight games - the longest winning streak since the 2001-02 season - to improve to 22-6 overall and 15-2 in SLC action.
With the victory, head coach Brandon Schneider picked up his 400th career win between SFA and Emporia State. The leader of the Ladyjacks has 94 wins during his five years at the helm in Nacogdoches.
The Lady Demons (15-13, 10-7 SLC) held the advantage after a low-scoring first half, 22-18, but the Ladyjacks would heat up down the stretch. Porsha Roberts notched a double-double in the second half alone with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Taylor Ross scored all 11 of her points in the final period to help SFA outscore NWLA 38-23.
Roberts ended the game with a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 15 points. Her monster evening on the glass helped the Ladyjacks post more than double the rebound total of the Lady Demons at 61-30. Freshman Charisma Alexander grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds and Tierany Henderson hauled in seven. Twenty-two of the 61 boards came on the offensive glass.
The dominance on the boards proved to be the remedy for an off-shooting night for the 22nd best shooting team in the NCAA. SFA shot just 6-for-32 (18.8 percent) in the opening half and finished the night with a 28.8 percent mark - well below the team's season average of 44.4.
Sophomore Brentney Branch had a huge first half to keep the Ladyjacks in the ballgame. The lethal three-point sharpshooter splashed in three triples in the opening frame to account for half of the squad's scoring and ended the game with 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting from deep.
Brittney Matthew and Ross distributed the attack, dishing out five assists apiece.
The Ladyjacks will look to finish the season strong on Saturday evening when they welcome rival Sam Houston State to town for a 4:00 p.m. tip. A win would avenge a 65-64 loss to the Bearkats on Jan. 24 - the last time the Ladyjacks lost this season, as well as bump SFA to a 16-2 SLC record.
The Ladyjacks have won 14 straight games at home.
-SFA-
