Tuesday, November 14
Nacogdoches, Texas
7:00 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
vs
Coppin State
Ladyjacks Host Coppin State in Midweek Home Opener Inside William R. Johnson Coliseum
11/13/2017 1:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SFA will open 2017-18 home schedule with MEAC opponent
Tuesday vs. Coppin State
SFA WBB Home Opener
7:00 p.m | Nacogdoches, Texas | William R. Johnson Coliseum
Live stats | Game Notes | Audio | Video
SFA WBB Home Opener
7:00 p.m | Nacogdoches, Texas | William R. Johnson Coliseum
Live stats | Game Notes | Audio | Video
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The first game of the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball season can best be described as a mixed bag. The 74-49 loss to Kansas State in Manhattan last Friday did contain some silver linings, although the final result was not chief among them. The good news for SFA is two-fold. First, that they battled and hung in with the Big 12 foe for the first half of play despite a poor shooting night, and second and more importantly, the Ladyjacks will open their home schedule on Tuesday night against Coppin State.
The 'Jacks (0-1) and the Eagles (0-1) share a commonality, in that both fell in the season opener to Big 12 opponents. Coppin State was plastered by #3 Baylor to the tune of a 100-54 score on Sunday, shooting just 32.3 percent from the field while allowing the Bears to convert on 61.2 percent of attempts. Tuesday's matchup between the 'Jacks and the Eagles will be just the second matchup all-time between the programs, with the first game of the series being playing last season, a 72-57 win for SFA in Baltimore. Now, the series shifts to William R. Johnson Coliseum, where the 'Jacks have made it a habit of not losing games.
SFA has tallied a 105-34 record in games played at home over the past ten seasons, including a 59-15 record in the past five years. That lopsided record in favor of SFA carries all the way back to the 1974 season, with Stephen F. Austin owning a 432-92 all-time record in games played there. In home openers under Mark Kellogg, SFA is 2-0, with victories against UT-Tyler and Oklahoma Panhandle State in the past two seasons. Not only has SFA won both of those home openers by double digits, but the average margin of victory for those games is 27.5 points. Also of note is the team's 6-1 record from last season in games following a loss, as the 'Jacks only lost consecutive games one time all season.
Coppin State is a member of the Mideastern Athletic Conference, a conference consisting of 13 member institutions spread across nine states along the Southeastern U.S. In the 2016-17 season, the Eagles sported an 8-21 record, with all eight wins coming in conference play as they went 8-8 in the MEAC. That fourth place finish in the MEAC's North Division prefaced a 12-game slide to open the season, with ten of those losses coming by double-digits during a brutal non-conference slate that included opponents such as Syracuse, West Virginia, Virginia, VCU and North Carolina. The MEAC regular season championship was won by Bethune-Cookman, while Hampton took home tournament title honors.
The Eagles look to guard Genesis Lucas for the bulk of their scoring, as the redshirt senior tallied a team-high 13.9 points in her junior campaign and opened the season with a 25-point effort at Baylor on Sunday, albeit taking 29 shots to do so. Standing 5-7, the Brandywine, Maryland native looks to be the primary option on offense for Coppin State, with center Chance Graham potentially filling the gap alongside her. Graham, a 5-11 sophomore who is listed as a center, notched a double-double against Baylor on Sunday with a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Both players will be familiar to SFA, as Lucas led the eagles with 14 points in last season's home loss to SFA, while Graham posted eight points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes.
"There's only about four returners from the team we played last year", said SFA head coach Mark Kellogg. "They have a really good point guard last night in Genesis Lucas, who scored 25 points against Baylor yesterday. We know she kind of makes them go on offense, so that'll be a major point of emphasis for us on defense. They're an athletic team that can get going in the open floor, so they can challenge us that way."
Head coach DeWayne Burroughs has begun his second season at the helm for Coppin State, having led the Eagles to eight wins in his first season as coach last year. Prior to taking over at Coppin State, Burroughs spent one season as head coach and four seasons as an assistant coach at the University of District of Columbia. Between his two coaching stops, Burroughs has posted a 29-31 overall record, with an 8-22 record at Coppin State.
For the Ladyjacks, the process of rallying from the season opening loss begins with shot selection. Not having to play around K-State's substantial length on defense should help, although Coppin State boasts some height of their own down low. A poor shooting performance from the onset of Friday's game put the Ladyjacks behind from the beginning of the game, and dug them into a hole that any team would have a hard time getting out of. Despite that, there were some positive takeaways from the contest, as Stevi Parker just missed out on her first double-double of the season with nine points and 11 rebounds, and the Ladyjacks tied the Wildcats on the glass with 40 apiece. Additionally, the Ladyjacks were stellar in cleaning up the offensive glass, outmatching the Wildcats 13-4 in that category.
In last season's matchup between the two teams, Coppin State was sloppy on the ball and on defense, turning the ball over 30 times and committing 27 fouls. Two Eagles players fouled out in the contest, and the Ladyjacks attempted a season-high 36 free throw attempts. Taylor Ross and Brentney Branch led the 'Jacks with 18 and 12 points, respectively, although neither will be on the court for SFA on Tuesday. Parker (six points, eight boards), Kennedy Harris (nine points, six rebounds) and Taylor Jackson (eight points) all had solid games against the Eagles last season, and will be motivated to improve on the team's performance at Kansas State.
"The team is really excited to open up the home season", added Kellogg. "I'm not going to question their effort or energy, we ought to have that for sure. We'll be ready to go, we still have that bad taste in our mouths from the Kansas State loss so we'll be eager to get back at it."
Despite the result against K-State, the bench unit for SFA showed promise when called upon. All 12 members of the team saw action, including the first career minutes for all four of the freshman. Two of those freshmen, guards Alyssa Mayfield and Marissa Banfield, posted seven and six points, respectively, to spell Parker's team-high nine points. Freshman center Aaliyah Johnson also scored her first career bucket, hauled down three rebounds and recorded a block and a steal in nine minutes of action, while guard Brioenne Burns had a steal, an assist and a rebound in six minutes of action. Veterans Riley Harvey (seven rebounds, four points), Kia Fisker (four points, two rebounds, two steals) and Lovisa Brunnberg two points, one steal) each chipped in to help the bench score 25 of the team's points on the night.
The Tuesday night showdown kicks off an action-packed week of basketball inside William R. Johnson Coliseum, as a total of five SFA basketball games will be played there in the next five days. After the Ladyjacks face Coppin State, the Lumberjacks will face St. Edwards on Wednesday and Letourneau on Thursday, before both teams take part in the first doubleheader of the season on Saturday against Howard Payne. On that day, the Ladyjacks will face the Yellow Jackets at 1:30 p.m., followed by the men's game which tips off at 4:00.
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