Women’s Basketball Unveils 2017-18 Schedule
8/23/2017 11:38:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Ladyjacks play 15 home games in the 2017-18 season
NACOGDOCHES, Texas—Stephen F. Austin head women's basketball coach Mark Kellogg announced the full 2017-18 schedule on Wednesday morning, ringing in the 48th season in program history.
The schedule features a total of 29 games, with 15 home games, 12 road contests and two games to be played on a neutral court.
"We've got four or five games that are going to be especially tough games in which we'll have to play very well to win", Kellogg explained. "We open up the year with Kansas State, a traditional top-25 caliber team that is very long and plays good defense, so that'll be a good test for us right off the bat. After that, we move on to the Southern Miss tournament, and then some home games that are very winnable if we play well and protect our home court."
"We'll get South Dakota back here at home, which might be the best team on our schedule at some point, and the Montana trip will be two games in which we'll have to play really well to win", continued Kellogg. "Altogether, there are a few 50/50 games where if we play well we'll win, if we don't we probably won't, and then some games where we'll probably have some success in and can get some people some minutes."
Once the team kicks off the Southland Conference schedule with the opener against Southeastern Louisiana on December 28th, the team will face three straight conference opponents on the road in Nicholls (1/3), Northwestern State (1/6) and New Orleans (1/10). The Ladyjacks will then return home for four games in a row, starting with Incarnate Word on January 13th, followed by Abilene Christian (1/17), Central Arkansas (1/24) and Sam Houston State (1/27).
"We've got figure ourselves out through the first 11 games before we even get into conference play, and we've got a stretch of four home games that gives us a chance to build our confidence", Kellogg concluded. "We've got a lot to work on between now and December 28th, when we kick off the conference schedule."
Road trips to Houston Baptist (1/31) and Lamar (2/3) close out January and open February, respectively, followed by three straight home games against McNeese (2/7), Northwestern State (2/10) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2/14). Road contests between Incarnate Word (2/17) and Central Arkansas (2/21) precede the final home game of the regular season against Lamar (2/24), and the regular season closes out with road trips to Abilene Christian (2/28) and Sam Houston State (3/3). The Southland Conference Tournament is set to take place from March 8-11 in Katy, Texas.
The Ladyjacks are looking to build off of a 25-8 season in 2016, in which they accrued a 14-4 conference record but fell in the Southland Conference Tournament Championship, before bowing out of the WBI Tournament with a first round exit. Kellogg returns to the helm for his third season as head coach, owning a 43-20 overall mark at SFA and compiling a 26-11 mark in Southland play.
SFA will look to replicate the successful offense they feature last season, as the team averaged 73.2 points per game, second in Southland play. Coupled with a defense that held opponents to an average of 62.8 points per game, the Ladyjacks owned a 10.4 scoring margin over opponents in 2016-17.
Returning a total of seven letter winners and two starters to the fold in the 2017-18 campaign, SFA has a healthy mix of veteran players and newcomers on the roster heading into the upcoming season. With 2016 Southland Conference Player of the Year Taylor Ross departed, the top returner for SFA from last season is senior forward Stevi Parker, who ranked fifth in the Southland and first on her team for rebounding last season, hauling in 8.3 boards per game and notching seven double-doubles in the campaign. Parker will be joined by junior guard Kennedy Harris and sophomore guard/forward Riley Harvey, each of whom averaged six points a game last season. Harris was a starter in all 33 games last season, and also ranked second on the Ladyjacks in total steals, with 47.
Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the SFA Ticket Office at 936-468-JACK, or by visiting the ticket page on SFAJacks.com/Tickets.
The schedule features a total of 29 games, with 15 home games, 12 road contests and two games to be played on a neutral court.
"We've got four or five games that are going to be especially tough games in which we'll have to play very well to win", Kellogg explained. "We open up the year with Kansas State, a traditional top-25 caliber team that is very long and plays good defense, so that'll be a good test for us right off the bat. After that, we move on to the Southern Miss tournament, and then some home games that are very winnable if we play well and protect our home court."
"We'll get South Dakota back here at home, which might be the best team on our schedule at some point, and the Montana trip will be two games in which we'll have to play really well to win", continued Kellogg. "Altogether, there are a few 50/50 games where if we play well we'll win, if we don't we probably won't, and then some games where we'll probably have some success in and can get some people some minutes."
Once the team kicks off the Southland Conference schedule with the opener against Southeastern Louisiana on December 28th, the team will face three straight conference opponents on the road in Nicholls (1/3), Northwestern State (1/6) and New Orleans (1/10). The Ladyjacks will then return home for four games in a row, starting with Incarnate Word on January 13th, followed by Abilene Christian (1/17), Central Arkansas (1/24) and Sam Houston State (1/27).
"We've got figure ourselves out through the first 11 games before we even get into conference play, and we've got a stretch of four home games that gives us a chance to build our confidence", Kellogg concluded. "We've got a lot to work on between now and December 28th, when we kick off the conference schedule."
Road trips to Houston Baptist (1/31) and Lamar (2/3) close out January and open February, respectively, followed by three straight home games against McNeese (2/7), Northwestern State (2/10) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (2/14). Road contests between Incarnate Word (2/17) and Central Arkansas (2/21) precede the final home game of the regular season against Lamar (2/24), and the regular season closes out with road trips to Abilene Christian (2/28) and Sam Houston State (3/3). The Southland Conference Tournament is set to take place from March 8-11 in Katy, Texas.
The Ladyjacks are looking to build off of a 25-8 season in 2016, in which they accrued a 14-4 conference record but fell in the Southland Conference Tournament Championship, before bowing out of the WBI Tournament with a first round exit. Kellogg returns to the helm for his third season as head coach, owning a 43-20 overall mark at SFA and compiling a 26-11 mark in Southland play.
SFA will look to replicate the successful offense they feature last season, as the team averaged 73.2 points per game, second in Southland play. Coupled with a defense that held opponents to an average of 62.8 points per game, the Ladyjacks owned a 10.4 scoring margin over opponents in 2016-17.
Returning a total of seven letter winners and two starters to the fold in the 2017-18 campaign, SFA has a healthy mix of veteran players and newcomers on the roster heading into the upcoming season. With 2016 Southland Conference Player of the Year Taylor Ross departed, the top returner for SFA from last season is senior forward Stevi Parker, who ranked fifth in the Southland and first on her team for rebounding last season, hauling in 8.3 boards per game and notching seven double-doubles in the campaign. Parker will be joined by junior guard Kennedy Harris and sophomore guard/forward Riley Harvey, each of whom averaged six points a game last season. Harris was a starter in all 33 games last season, and also ranked second on the Ladyjacks in total steals, with 47.
Fans can purchase season tickets by calling the SFA Ticket Office at 936-468-JACK, or by visiting the ticket page on SFAJacks.com/Tickets.
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