Ladyjacks Take the Sting Out of Yellowjackets, Win Big at Home, 105-35

Saturday, November 18

Nacogdoches, Texas

1:30 p.m

Stephen F. Austin

2-1

105

Howard Payne

0-1

Howard Payne

Stephen F. Austin

105

Ladyjacks Take the Sting Out of Yellowjackets, Win Big at Home, 105-35

11/18/2017 3:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SFA scores highest team point total since 1996-96 season

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – It didn't take long for the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team to impose themselves on the visiting Howard Payne Yellowjackets on Saturday at William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA was red-hot from the opening tip and never looked back, coasting to a 105-35 victory in a game that was never in doubt for SFA (2-1).

The Ladyjack's 105 points also sets a new program-high under head coach Mark Kellogg, beating the 96 points scored against McNeese last season on January 2. Additionally, the victory marked SFA's first 100-point performance since a 101-59 victory against Texas A&M Commerce in 2013-14, and highest team point total since the 1996-97 season, when the 'Jacks bested Lamar 115-57.

The opening tip of the contest was an accurate representation of how the game was going to go, as forward Stevi Parker won the jump ball without so much as a contest from the opposing player. SFA would get easy looks all throughout the game, and made the most of the opportunity, shooting a blistering 55.9 percent (38-68) from the field and 50 percent (10-20) from beyond the arc.

SFA scored nine quick points to open up the game, and that run would grow to 14-0 before HPU finally scored a basket. Parker was instrumental to the hot start, scoring or assisting on the first eight Ladyjack points. She would post 14 points and 10 rebounds, finishing with her second straight double-double effort. Freshman guards Marissa Banfield and Alyssa Mayfield each chipped in a new season-high in points with 14 and 13, respectively. Every Ladyjack that played would score at least one basket, and four different Ladyjacks finished in double-digits in the contest.

The Ladyjacks took care of business on both ends of the court, turning 26 Yellowjacket turnovers into 41 points on the offensive end, and holding the Yellowjackets to just 28.8 percent shooting from the floor. HPU's leading scorer coming into the game, Valarie Matlock, was held scoreless on 0-4 shooting.
A season-high 15 steals and a 46-28 edge in rebounding also contributed heavily to the end result, as Howard Payne never really got into an offensive rhythm in the contest.

The Ladyjacks would lead 33-6 after the first quarter of play, and extend that lead up to 41 points with just over a minute left in the second quarter. The margin grew in the third, as SFA outscored the Yellowjackets 25-11 in the stanza. The fourth quarter was more of the same, as the 'Jacks posted 24 more points on the way to a 70-point final margin. That margin was the largest for SFA since the 2014-15 season, when they routed LSU-Shreveport 94-39 in Mark Kellogg's first season at the helm. Saturday's victory also became the most recent occasion in which SFA held an opponent below 40 points, with the previous occasion being the aforementioned victory over LSU-Shreveport.

Next up for the Ladyjacks is a pair of road games at the Southern Miss Tournament on November 24 and 25, with games against Alabama State and Alcorn State, respectively.

-SFA-