Ladyjacks Return Home To Square Off With In-State Foe Texas A&M-Commerce

NACOGDOCHES, Texas—The moment adversity hits a team can be an absolutely critical one, and for the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team, that time is now. Adversity came knocking last weekend in the form of a pair of road losses at Montana and Montana State, and represented the lowest scoring output for the 'Jacks in any game since the season-opening loss at Kansas State. Now at 6-3 on the season, the 'Jacks have a prime chance to right the ship against two non-Division I opponents before Southland Conference play tips off at the end of the month.

The first of those opponents is Texas A&M Commerce, a very capable Division II program coming off one of the program's best seasons in 2016-17, finishing with a 20-9 record. The Lions and the Ladyjacks have met a total of six times, with the most recent coming in SFA head coach Mark Kellogg's inaugural season at the helm of the 'Jacks in 2015-16, a contest the Ladyjacks won by a 75-65 margin. A more lopsided 101-59 result in the 2013 season and four more SFA victories back in the 1970's have opened up a 6-0 lead for Stephen F. Austin in the all-time series between the teams.

The game will tip off at 8:00 p.m. inside William R. Johnson Coliseum, with streaming of the game taking place via Facebook Live at Facebook.com/SFALumberjacks. Bobby Mauro's seasoned commentary can be heard on the radio at Q107.7 as well as on the Facebook Live broadcast.

While still well above .500 on the season, the 'Jacks have certainly not hit their stride on offense, at least to the degree expected. Even still, SFA had been averaging 80 points per game heading into the northern excursion, a figure it fell well short of reaching against both Montana programs. A&M Commerce is no pushover on the defense end, holding opponents to 62 points per game, but at home and in need of a bounce back game, the SFA offense should be vastly improved from the most recent road trip. Through the first seven games of the season, two forms of scoring had been in SFA's favor, that of bench scoring and points off turnovers.

Both Montana State and Montana's bench units outscored their SFA counterparts, the first time that had occurred for SFA this season. The 'Jacks had come to rely on a handful of reserves for steady scoring output to spell the starters, but that simply wasn't there in Montana. On the defensive end, the 'Jacks were solid and once more effective on turning over their opponents, but those opportunities didn't lead to the boon of scoring they previously had this season. Out of sync on offense and unable to sustain momentum created by their defense, the 'Jacks were held to 52 and 54 points, the lowest scoring output in a two-game stretch this season.

Redshirt senior Stevi Parker continues to lead the team in scoring, and is now averaging 11.6 points on the season to go along with 10.3 rebounds. After averaging 12.5 points per game in Montana for the 'Jacks, guard Chanell Hayes is now the team's second-highest scorer at 9.6 points per contest, while freshman guard Alyssa Mayfield is close behind at 9.3 points. Recent shooting struggles have brought SFA's team shooting down to a .404/.275/.707 (FG/3-pt/FT) slash line, but the team has shown the ability to torch the nets in a hurry with contributions from multiple players on offense.

For the Lions, a trio of double-digit scorers in Brianna Wise, Artaejah Gay and Princess Davis pace the Commerce offense, which averages 69 points per game. Owning a .368/.314/.717 (FG/3-pt/FT) shooting line this season, the Lions have posted a 6-4 record despite shooting a lower percentage than their opponents. Wise is the Lone Star Conference's second leading scorer this season at 16.1 points per game, and has been deadly from beyond the arc this season, hitting 14 of 31 attempts (.452) this season. Gay (13.1 ppg) and Davis (10.6 ppg) are also consistent scoring options.

Texas A&M Commerce and SFA are both active on the defensive end, and force their opponents into a high number of mistakes. The Lions rank 59th in Division II in turnovers forced, with an average of 20 per contest, while SFA ranks seventh in Division I in turnovers forced with 24.11 per game. Additionally, the 'Jacks are 30th in steals (107) and 13th in turnover margin (+7.44), leading to a huge swing in both scoring offense and scoring defense for SFA.

With an opponent that should provide a challenge, and the reputation at William R. Johnson Coliseum on the line, the onus is on SFA to respond well after the road losses sustained last weekend. Saturday's contest, as well as a Tuesday tilt against Central Christian College, represent the final tune-ups for the Ladyjacks before the conference season opens with a home contest against Southeastern Louisiana on the 28th. The diversity the Ladyjacks are facing now is a strong test for them, and could determine how the rest of the season unfolds. A season ago, SFA was 6-1 following a loss, and is 1-1 in those same situations this season.

Texas A&M Commerce will be the third school on the schedule this season with a ties to SFA's coaching staff, as Ladyjacks assistant coach Leonard Bishop used to coach for the Lions from 2012-15. Previously, 'Jacks opponents Howard Payne and Montana State were former playing or coaching stops for Director of Basketball Operations Kayla Scott (HPU) and coaches Mark Kellogg and Rebecca Alvidrez (Montana State).

-SFA-

Schedule

Ladyjacks Return Home To Square Off With In-State Foe Texas A&M-Commerce

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chanell Hayes

Stevi Parker

Footer

Stephen F Austin

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Nelson University (TX) on Nov. 3, 2025 at 11:00 a.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Texas A&M - Texarkana on Nov. 8, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus Abilene Christian University on Nov. 14, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball versus University of Houston on Nov. 17, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 23, 2025

Ladyjacks Return Home To Square Off With In-State Foe Texas A&M-Commerce

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chanell Hayes

Stevi Parker

Related Videos

Footer