Ladyjacks Resume Rivalry with Bearkats in Regular Season Finale
3/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Stephen F. Austin (17-11, 11-6 SLC) at Sam Houston State (11-16, 7-10 SLC)
Saturday, March 5 • 4:30 p.m.
Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum • Huntsville, Texas
Watch (ESPN3) • Live Stats • Radio (Q107.7 FM)
In-Game Twitter Updates: @SFA_WBB
Complete Game Notes 
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team will look to bounce back from a tough road loss at Northwestern State on Thursday when it travels to Huntsville for a rivalry game against Sam Houston State on Saturday evening. The 2015-16 regular season finale is set to start at 4:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Lincoln Rose (play-by-play) and Van Chancellor (color) on the call. Rob Meyers is back on the airwaves as well, courtesy of Q107.7 FM (Q1077.com).
QUICK HITS
• The Ladyjacks saw their Southland Conference best 10-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night at the hands of the Lady Demons in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Despite the setback, SFA still has a shot at the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SLC Tournament next week. An SFA win at SHSU and a McNeese State win and NSU loss, creating a three-way tie at 12-6 between the three teams, would give SFA the two seed after tiebreak rules took effect. All other scenarios would result in the `Jacks claiming the three or four seed.
• SFA struggled offensively on Thursday night, resulting in a 72-51 loss to Northwestern State. The best shooting team in the league this season going in, SFA had a rare off night. The Ladyjacks shot just 34.0 percent from the field, which included a 9.1 percent mark from beyond the arc. After hitting two of their first three shots from distance, the `Jacks missed their final 19 three-point attempts. The Lady Demons countered by firing at a 44.4 percent clip from the field, knocking down 11 triples on 32 attempts.
• Junior center Adrienne Lewis had a career night in Natchitoches. She set a new career mark with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead all scorers and also hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds. The 19-point, 10-rebound outburst secured her third double-double of the season. Lewis also accomplished the feat against Central Arkansas at home on Jan. 7 (18 pts, 13 reb) and against Sam Houston State on Jan. 23 (10 pts, 17 reb).
• While not having her best night in Thursday's loss at NSU, junior guard Taylor Ross is still a prime contender for the 2016 SLC Player of the Year award presented next week. She scored 11 points (3-7 FG) against the Lady Demons to reach double figures for the 22nd time of 2015-16. Ross ranks fourth in the league in scoring (16.2 ppg), third in assists (4.0 apg), fourth in steals (2.3 spg) and sixth in field goal percentage (.484) overall this season.
• Three-point sharpshooter Brentney Branch has made four triples in four of her last six games and at least four on 10 different occasions in 2015-16. She now has 61 made threes during her junior campaign, ranking sixth all-time in SFA history for a single season. She is closing in on both Tierany Henderson's 2014-15 total of 62 and Dayna Reed's 1990-91 mark of 63. Branch also ranks sixth in program history with 149 career three-pointers made -- just three shy of Britany Vinson (2002-06) for fifth.
• In five of the last seven games, the Ladyjacks have recorded at least 11 steals and forced at least 20 turnovers to result in five double digit wins. SFA ranks 19th in the nation this season in steals per game (10.3) and 34th in turnovers forced (19.4).
• Despite Thursday night's off night, the Ladyjacks have shot the ball well in 2015-16. The squad currently leads the Southland Conference and sits 40th nationally with a 43.3 field goal percentage through 28 games. During its recent 10-game winning streak, SFA shot at least 41.0 percent in every contest and went over 50 percent on three occasions.
A LOOK AT SAM HOUSTON STATE
• The Ladyjacks are 65-11 all-time against Sam Houston State entering the 77th meeting of the rivalry. The Bearkats were responsible for one of the Ladyjacks' two losses in conference play last season as SFA went 16-2 to win the SLC regular season championship. This year, the `Jacks beat the `Kats 70-63 in Nacogdoches on Jan. 23 to start a 10-game winning streak. SFA got double-digit scoring efforts from five different players in the victory, led by a season-high 25 points (8-13 FG) from senior captain Taylor Schippers. Adrienne Lewis also notched a career high in rebounds (17), freshman Kennedy Harris posted a career best 11 points and Taylor Ross, Chanell Hayes and Lewis all contributed 10 points.
UP NEXT
• After Saturday's game, the Ladyjacks will begin preparation for the 2016 Southland Conference Tournament from March 9-13 in Katy, Texas. SFA has already secured at least one bye in the tournament and could clinch the No. 2 seed and a double bye depending on Saturday's results. The Ladyjacks will either play in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon or in the semifinals on Saturday to start the week.
-SFA-
