SFA Starts their Rivalry Week on the Road in Huntsville
2/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Stephen F. Austin (16-3, 7-1) vs. Sam Houston State (1-17, 1-7)
Game Day: Thursday, Feb. 2
Tip-off: 5:15 p.m.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin Women’s Basketball continues to break thresholds this season after the CBS College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 announced this week’s list, putting SFA at 22nd amongst schools like New Mexico State, Stetson, and Troy. They received a tremendous 103 votes this week to put them further up the charts. This dynamic squad is back up to 17th in the nation for their win-loss percentage (84.2), after dropping to 21st with the loss against Central Arkansas. SFA is ranked 19th and 16th on the NCAA lists for free throws makes and attempts, respectfully, and they still hold on tight to the seventh place ranking for turnovers forced, and are back up to 14th for steals per game in the nation.
Senior Taylor Ross continues to bring the hammer down after her sixth 20+ point game this season. The senior from Pflugerville, Texas tallied 21 points, eight assists, and five rebounds. She is currently ranked fifth in the nation for her 122 total free throws made this season behind Kelsey Plum from Washington and Larissa Lurken from Kent State.
In conference standings, the Ladyjacks are tied at the top of the league with Abilene Christian (7-1). SFA holds the top rankings for Free-throws made, Scoring Offense, and Won-Lost Percentage. They are second for Turnover forced (22.58), Field Goal Percentage (45.1), Three-point FG Percentage (33.8), and Three-Point FG Defense (31.1).
SFA leads the second longest All-Time series in program history with Sam Houston, 64-12, and the Ladyjacks are 25-6 on the road against the Bearkats. The series start back in 1972-73 with a 51-50 SFA win. In the past several years, the Ladyjacks were on a three-game win streak against SHSU, but the Bearkats won out, 78-70, in the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy last season.
Last time out: SFA finished last week with a Saturday afternoon game against New Orleans at the WRJ Coliseum. The Ladyjacks had their seventh 80 plus point game in league play with an 88-61 win over the Privateers. The “fierce-some four” were at it again totaling 62 of SFA’s 88 points. Other than Ross, Redshirt junior Stevi Parker posted 16 points and three rebounds, while, senior Brentney Branch totaled 15 points, going 3-7 beyond the arc. Senior Adrienne Lewis was one rebound shy of a double-double. The six-foot one center grabbed nine rebounds and put up 10 points. The SFA defense was at it again forcing 24 turnovers and 19 steals, a season high against a conference opponent. The SFA Ladyjacks shot over 50 percent from the field for the fourth game in a row. They shot 32-61 (52.5%) from the field and 18-23 (78.3%) at the free-throw line.
Scouting Sam Houston: The Bearkats broke into the win column this past Saturday after a struggle to start the season. SHSU was finally able to getting things going in the 68-61 win over Southeastern Louisiana last week. Freshman guard Jenniffer Oramas and sophomore Ashleigh Cooper set career-highs for points in the game with 20 and 13 points, respectively. Four Bearkats totaled in the double digits during the course of the game, and 33 of those points came from the bench.
After the trip to Huntsville, the Ladyjacks will turn right around and cross the border into Louisiana for another rivalry game against Northwestern State. The game is set for Saturday, Feb. 4, with tip-off at 1:00 p.m. The game will be live streamed on ESPN3 as a special Southland Conference presentation.
-SFA-
