Thursday, December 7
Missoula, Montana
7:00 p.m. (MT)
Stephen F. Austin
6-2
52
at
60
Montana
3-5
1
2
3
4
F
Stephen F. Austin
9
12
17
14
52
Montana
15
17
17
11
60
Shooting Woes Doom Ladyjacks in Loss to Lady Griz on Road, 60-52
12/7/2017 11:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SFA drops first game to Montana in all-time series
MISSOULA, MT. – A slow start and overall sluggish performance curbed the winning streak of the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team on Thursday night, as the 'Jacks dropped a 60-52 decision to the University of Montana in Missoula. The loss drops SFA to 6-2 on the season ahead of a matchup with Montana State on Saturday in Bozeman, and snaps a six-game winning streak for SFA.
Chanell Hayes led the way for SFA with 17 points on 7-14 shooting, but was the long bright spot on offense for the 'Jacks, who shot just 38.5 percent (20-52) from the field and 21.1 percent (4-19) from beyond the arc. 21 turnovers by the 'Jacks offense kept them out of rhythm throughout the contest, and led to 20 points off those turnovers by the Lady Griz.
"Well first of all credit Montana, because they came out and played well and made the shots they needed to make tonight", said SFA head coach Mark Kellogg. "I think we didn't trust our offense tonight, it seemed like we were all trying to make a play every time we caught the ball, and to turn it over 21 times against a team that was playing inside the three point line is disappointing. They got us on the boards, their bench outscored ours, which is typically a strength of ours, they converted turnovers and we did not. When you turn a team over 16 times and hold them to 60 points it should at least give you a chance to win, but not when you only score 52 points. I thought we lost our identity offensively tonight."
After a slow start by both teams, in which they combined to go just 3-11 from the field and commit seven turnovers between them, SFA took a brief 4-3 lead in the early going, but a 12-2 Lady Griz run from 6:25 to 2:38 saw them build up a 15-6 lead. A triple by Hayes would cut the lead to 15-9 at the end of the opening stanza. The 4-3 lead for SFA at the 6:25 mark of the first quarter would be the first and last of the game for the Ladyjacks.
That lead carried the Lady Griz through the second quarter, and although the 'Jacks twice trimmed the lead to within four points, an 8-2 Montana run over the final 4:30 of the second quarter opened up a 32-21 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Ladyjacks opened up with a 7-2 run to trim the lead to 34-28, but as was the case on several occasions through the contest, a poor turnover kept the run from reaching a bigger potential. Instead, the Lady Griz went on a 9-0 run beginning with 3:23 left in the third quarter, surging ahead on three quick jumpers and capping the run off with a three-pointer with 2:07 left to make the score 49-33.
Despite outscoring the Lady Griz 14-11 in the final quarter of play and trimming the lead to within eight with seconds left to play, the 'Jacks simply could not close the gap on Montana in the final frame, though not for lack of trying. Whether it was nerves, the raucous crowd or the overly physical nature of the game, the Ladyjacks simply could not close the distance in the final quarter of play.
"Yeah they seemed to handle our press pretty well, but some of the shots they were taking were shots we want teams to take", explained Kellogg. "When you take those shots and you miss them, it's a bad shot, but tonight they were making them, and so it becomes a great shot. We turned them over 21 times, so that gives you opportunities to convert and get points, but we just did not convert those enough, and that's disappointing. Now we need to regroup, work on a lot of things and move ahead to Saturday.
Despite not possessing an excess of size throughout their lineup, the Lady Griz were voracious on the glass, especially in offensive rebounds, where they notched 12, some of which were taken straight from the hands of the Ladyjacks. Combined with a 28-21 edge in defensive boards, Montana would win the rebounding battle by a final tally of 40-30 . The Montana bench also came up huge in the win, outscoring their SFA counterparts 34-13, the first time SFA's bench unit has been outscored by an opponent this season.
Next up for SFA is a trip to Montana State on Saturday, where the Bobcats have built up an impressive 28-game winning streak at home.
-SFA-
Chanell Hayes led the way for SFA with 17 points on 7-14 shooting, but was the long bright spot on offense for the 'Jacks, who shot just 38.5 percent (20-52) from the field and 21.1 percent (4-19) from beyond the arc. 21 turnovers by the 'Jacks offense kept them out of rhythm throughout the contest, and led to 20 points off those turnovers by the Lady Griz.
"Well first of all credit Montana, because they came out and played well and made the shots they needed to make tonight", said SFA head coach Mark Kellogg. "I think we didn't trust our offense tonight, it seemed like we were all trying to make a play every time we caught the ball, and to turn it over 21 times against a team that was playing inside the three point line is disappointing. They got us on the boards, their bench outscored ours, which is typically a strength of ours, they converted turnovers and we did not. When you turn a team over 16 times and hold them to 60 points it should at least give you a chance to win, but not when you only score 52 points. I thought we lost our identity offensively tonight."
After a slow start by both teams, in which they combined to go just 3-11 from the field and commit seven turnovers between them, SFA took a brief 4-3 lead in the early going, but a 12-2 Lady Griz run from 6:25 to 2:38 saw them build up a 15-6 lead. A triple by Hayes would cut the lead to 15-9 at the end of the opening stanza. The 4-3 lead for SFA at the 6:25 mark of the first quarter would be the first and last of the game for the Ladyjacks.
That lead carried the Lady Griz through the second quarter, and although the 'Jacks twice trimmed the lead to within four points, an 8-2 Montana run over the final 4:30 of the second quarter opened up a 32-21 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Ladyjacks opened up with a 7-2 run to trim the lead to 34-28, but as was the case on several occasions through the contest, a poor turnover kept the run from reaching a bigger potential. Instead, the Lady Griz went on a 9-0 run beginning with 3:23 left in the third quarter, surging ahead on three quick jumpers and capping the run off with a three-pointer with 2:07 left to make the score 49-33.
Despite outscoring the Lady Griz 14-11 in the final quarter of play and trimming the lead to within eight with seconds left to play, the 'Jacks simply could not close the gap on Montana in the final frame, though not for lack of trying. Whether it was nerves, the raucous crowd or the overly physical nature of the game, the Ladyjacks simply could not close the distance in the final quarter of play.
"Yeah they seemed to handle our press pretty well, but some of the shots they were taking were shots we want teams to take", explained Kellogg. "When you take those shots and you miss them, it's a bad shot, but tonight they were making them, and so it becomes a great shot. We turned them over 21 times, so that gives you opportunities to convert and get points, but we just did not convert those enough, and that's disappointing. Now we need to regroup, work on a lot of things and move ahead to Saturday.
Despite not possessing an excess of size throughout their lineup, the Lady Griz were voracious on the glass, especially in offensive rebounds, where they notched 12, some of which were taken straight from the hands of the Ladyjacks. Combined with a 28-21 edge in defensive boards, Montana would win the rebounding battle by a final tally of 40-30 . The Montana bench also came up huge in the win, outscoring their SFA counterparts 34-13, the first time SFA's bench unit has been outscored by an opponent this season.
Next up for SFA is a trip to Montana State on Saturday, where the Bobcats have built up an impressive 28-game winning streak at home.
-SFA-
Team Stats
SFA
UM
FG%
.385
.436
3FG%
.211
.267
FT%
.533
.727
RB
30
40
TO
21
21
STL
12
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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