Stephen F. Austin
UT-Arlington
SFA Upsets UTA's Undefeated Season
12/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2016
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks matched up against the UTA Mavericks on Saturday afternoon. Senior Taylor Ross led the SFA Ladyjacks with a season high 26 points against the Mavericks. She would be the only SFA player in the double digits. She had a terrific game as she grabbed four rebounds and three steals on the afternoon. Senior Brentney Branch followed next with eight points, to of those from beyond the arch. Sophomore Kennedy Harris was hot under the rim as she grabbed eight rebounds from the board. Senior Adrienne Lewis also had a great afternoon with six points and four rebounds. She went 3-4 in the field. As a team, SFA was out rebounded by UTA 39-38, thanks to UTA’s six foot five center. SFA defense continued to hold strong creating 13 steals and forcing 24 turnovers. The Ladyjacks shot 35.3% in the field and 73.5% at the line. The game was a very high intensity game throughout the last three quarters as the two teams tied the score seven different times.
UTA won the tip off, but SFA got the quick steal and the bucket from redshirt junior Stevi Parker to open the boards for the game. SFA then upped the intensity with a bucket and And-1 from Harris. She then went on with the rebound and put-back from her own rebound. SFA added a three from Ross, the Ladyjacks went on a 9-2 streak before the first media timeout. SFA defense held the Mavericks scoreless until there were three minutes left in the first and UTA hit a wide open three-pointer. The Mavericks took the momentum grabbing to more buckets before sophomore Kia Fisker took a charge and followed it up with a bucket on the other side to pull SFA up 19-12 with 30 seconds left in the quarter. UTA closed the gap to a four point game at the end of the first quarter.
SFA defense served up two steals in the first three minutes of the second, one of those turning into a Branch three-pointer. UTA came back with five points for the tie game going into the second media timeout. The game would get physical as the Ladyjacks and Mavericks traded a handful of fouls and free-throws. Both teams flirted with the lead until Fiskers hit both her free-throws for the 29-27 SFA lead at the half.
After the intermission, Lewis finished a post-up move to start an SFA four point momentum that forced UTA to call the early timeout. Lewis got things going in the third with another bucket and took the charge for the SFA 37-31 lead. Branch hit another triple in the fourth minute, but UTA grabbed six points to close the gap to three. UTA took advantage of some SFA miscommunication and tie the score at 42 at the end of the third.
Back-to-back buckets from freshman Riley Harvey and Branch started a six point unanswered run by SFA. The defense then forced two turnovers forcing UTA to take a timeout at the 6:30 minutes mark. Buckets from Lewis, Hayes and Parker pushed the SFA to a 56-49 lead. UTA’s big Rebekah VanDijk went on a six point streak all by herself, and stole the momentum for the Mavericks. A charge taken by Parker, her second forced offense foul of the game, stopped the drive allowing Ross to sink two free-throws for the 60-56 lead. SFA free-throws off fouls kept the SFA lead as UTA sunk triple with one minute remaining in the game. Lewis had the big block in the final seconds to seal the SFA win, 65-60.
The Ladyjacks will be back in action on Wednesday for their last road game of December before a four game home series. SFA will take on the Louisiana Tech Lady Techers Dec. 7th at 11:15 a.m. CT.
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