Stephen F. Austin
McNeese State
Ladyjacks Cruise Past Cowgirls in SLC Opener, 80-55
1/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Stephen F. Austin 80, McNeese State 55
William R. Johnson Coliseum • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (7-5, 1-0 SLC); MCN (8-5, 0-1 SLC)
Up Next: at Southeastern Louisiana • Monday, Jan. 4 • 4:30 p.m.
Box Score 
Photo Gallery
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team took the drama out of its Southland Conference opener on Saturday night inside William R. Johnson Coliseum, rolling to a convincing 80-55 victory over McNeese State.
The win extends SFA's home SLC winning streak to 14 games, spanning 695 days over parts of the last three seasons.
Taylor Ross scored 20 points to lead all players in the first game of Saturday's men's/women's doubleheader. She shot at a 7-for-11 clip, grabbed three rebounds and handed out three assists.
Senior guard Paulletta Powell notched a season-high with 15 points on a 5-for-9 effort from the field. Sophomore forward Stevi Parker registered her second double-double of the season in the form of a 14-point, 10-rebound performance. Junior guard Brentney Branch added 10 points to round out the double digit scorers.
SFA has gotten double digit scoring efforts from four players on five different occasions on the year, including each of the last two games.
The `Jacks used a heavy dose of Ross in the first quarter as the junior guard scored half of SFA's points in the period. She went a perfect 3-for-3 from the field in seven minutes, scoring six points. The Ladyjacks never led in the quarter but trailed by just one, 13-12, after 10 minutes.
Back-to-back threes by Powell early in the second quarter gave SFA its first lead of the game, 19-16. She had a new season high with 12 points by the end of the first half, with 10 of those points coming in the second quarter.
Parker helped the Ladyjacks close the half on an 8-1 run with consecutive layups as time was winding down. SFA enjoyed a 31-25 edge at the break.
The Ladyjacks started the second half just as hot as they ended the first. Ross and Parker drained threes from the same corner spot to help SFA erupt for a 12-2 spurt and go up 43-27. Carrying over from the second quarter, the `Jacks mounted a 20-3 run overall to build the 16-point surplus.
That proved to be more than enough to start the SLC slate 1-0. Layups by Kennedy Harris and LaNesha Middleton in the closing mintues pushed SFA's lead to 29 points before the Ladyjacks settled for the 25-point victory.
SFA led McNeese in just about every statistical category, outscoring the Cowgirls in the paint (40-26), off turnovers (27-9), second chance points (10-2) and fast break points (12-0). The defense forced 17 turnovers and held McNeese to just 34.5 percent shooting. The Ladyjacks scored at a higher 47.1 percent rate.
Senior guard Taylor Schippers, Ross, Branch and Powell each dished out three assists while freshman Charisma Alexander (8 rebounds) and junior Adrienne Lewis (7 rebounds) were strong on the glass.
SFA will experience a short turnaround between its next game as the Ladyjacks travel to play Southeastern Louisiana on Monday evening at 4:00 p.m. The game in Hammond, La. will serve as the front end of a men's/women's doubleheader.
-SFA-
