First-Quarter Barrage Helps Ladyjacks Muzzle Coyotes at Home, 77-55

Saturday, December 2

Nacogdoches, Texas

1:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

6-1

South Dakota

4-4

South Dakota

Stephen F. Austin

First-Quarter Barrage Helps Ladyjacks Muzzle Coyotes at Home, 77-55

12/2/2017 3:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SFA places five in double figures and improves to 6-1 on the season

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – An opening salvo of three-pointers and good offensive execution staked the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team out an early lead in a big game at home on Saturday, and the 'Jacks suffocating defense did the rest. SFA ran away with a 77-55 victory over South Dakota at William R. Johnson Coliseum to improve to 6-1 in the 2017-18 campaign and avenge a loss to the Coyotes in last year's season opener.

Six different 'Jacks hit a three-pointer, while Stevi Parker notched a double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Riley Harvey finished with 13 points (11-12 FT's), while Chanell Hayes has 12 points in the win. The Ladyjacks converted on 35.8 percent (19-53) of their shots from the field, but were 7-18 (38.9 percent) from beyond the arc, including a 6-10 effort from deep in the opening stanza. A total of five Ladyjacks finished in double figures in the win.

I'm really proud of our group, I thought that was a great effort and 40 minutes", said SFA head coach Mark Kellogg. "We just battled defensively, and took them out of the stuff they traditionally run on offense. I have so much respect for that program, I think they're a great mid-major program and they run good stuff, but we were dialed in, we were ready for it and we came out 'guns-a-blazing'. We were shooting the lights out but I also think we were playing really well defensively. Sometimes when you're making shots you think you're playing well just because you're making shots, but today I thought we were playing really well, and I thought we competed at a level that I hadn't seen us compete at. I knew we had it in us, but I hadn't seen it yet."

The 'Jacks got off to a strong start in the opening minutes of the first quarter, as Chanell Hayes opened the scoring with a pair of free throws on the 'Jacks first possession, and Imani Johnson nailing a straightaway three on the next possession for a quick 5-0 lead. After South Dakota battled back to within 8-7 on a three-pointer a while later, the 'Jacks heated up once again, as Chanell Hayes hit a deep three-ball and Kennedy Harris stole the ball on the ensuing possession. That led to a layup by Stevi Parker, which pushed the lead to 13-7 with 4:57 left in the first quarter.

The 'Jacks extended their lead later in the first quarter, as Imani Johnson droves inside on her defender and finished a layup with a foul shot to push the lead to 17-10. On the other end, Stevi Parker ripped down a defensive board and was fouled, and hit both free throws to push it to a nine-point lead. Defense continued to be strong for the 'Jacks, as they forced the sixth early turnover by the Coyotes and took it the other way for a layup by Hayes, and a 21-10 lead.

In last season's contest between the two teams, the 'Jacks found success from beyond the arc, and in the first stanza of Saturday's contest, the Ladyjacks torched the Coyotes from deep once again. Three triples in the final two minutes of the first quarter pushed the SFA lead out to 32-14, as Kennedy Harris, Alyssa Mayfield and Stevi Parker all connected from range to continue SFA's torrid start from beyond the arc. The 'Jacks would end up 6-10 from beyond the arc in the first quarter in building the 18-point lead.

Fighting off a bit of a sluggish start to the second quarter, the 'Jacks continued to battle and scrap for opportunities while the Coyotes faltered. A gutsy layup inside by Hayes with under five minutes left to play pushed the lead out to 40-18, as the 'Jacks took advantage of a Coyote turnover. Coming into the matchup ranked seventh in the nation in turnovers forced, the Ladyjacks throttled the Coyote offense and forced 14 first half turnovers. Even still, after ending just one point shy of a season-high in first quarter points, the 'Jacks cooled off dramatically in the second quarter, making just two field goals, and heading into the halftime break with a 41-24 lead.

In the second half, the Coyotes came out firing, hitting triples on consecutive possessions to trim the margin to 45-31. Taylor Jackson drained a long jump shot with 5:29 to end the run for the Coyotes as the shot clock wound down with 5:29 remaining. After a Coyotes turnover at the 2:50 mark, Mayfield found a wide-open Jackson a corner triple to push the lead to 53-32. That triple was the first for SFA since the first quarter barrage. After narrowly outscoring the Coyotes 16-15 in the third quarter, SFA held a 59-37 edge heading into the final quarter of play.

In the final quarter, the "Jacks outpaced the visitors 14-11, helped by a 12-18 effort from the free-throw stripe in the quarter. Two Coyotes starters fouled out in the final quarter, joining another of their teammates on the bench, and South Dakota's remaining unit could do little to keep pace with SFA and close the gap. By the time the final horn sounded, the 'Jacks had dismantled the Coyotes piece by piece, handing them a worse loss than they had suffered at the hands of #12 ranked Tennessee earlier this season.

"We did a great job being aggressive", added Kellogg. "I think we took a huge step today. It's just one, it's just the beginning, but we have some new faces on the team, and they needed it."

SFA held a 33-29 edge in rebounding in the contest, but made the biggest impact in winning the turnover battle. The 'Jacks forced 26 Coyote turnovers and scored 28 points off those turnovers, also holding the Coyotes to 40.5 percent shooting from the field (17-42) and 40.0 percent (6-15) from beyond the arc.

Next up for the Ladyjacks is a foray into the cold north of Montana, where SFA will face Montana and Montana State in a pair of tough road games.

-SFA-