Ladyjacks Pull Away in Second Half, Coast to 75-53 Victory in Piney Woods Rivalry

Saturday, January 27

Nacogdoches, Texas

3:30 p.m

Stephen F. Austin

16-3 (8-0SLC)

Sam Houston State

4-14 (1-8SLC)

Sam Houston State

Stephen F. Austin

Ladyjacks Pull Away in Second Half, Coast to 75-53 Victory in Piney Woods Rivalry

1/27/2018 5:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SFA earns third straight victory over rival Sam Houston State

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team tied a season-high in made three-point field goals with 10 and outscored rival Sam Houston State 40-23 in the second half en route to a 75-53 victory in William R. Johnson Coliseum on Saturday. With the win, the Ladyjacks improve to 16-3 overall (8-0 SLC) and stay a perfect 11-0 at home.

After building up a small five-point lead at the halftime break, the Ladyjacks came out strong in the third quarter, to build the lead to double-digits, and bullied the Bearkats by a 21-10 advantage in the fourth quarter to seize control of the game for good. The win was the 10^th straight for SFA, and the third straight win for the 'Jacks in which they posted a strong effort coming out of the halftime break.

Four Ladyjacks scored in double figures in the contest, led by Stevi Parker's ninth double-double of the season at 17 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Taylor Jackson continued her torrid stretch of play by pouring in 17 points on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc, while Kennedy Harris and Chanell Hayes each chipped in 10 points apiece.

The opening minutes of the contest saw no shortage of scoring looks for either team, as the teams combined to take 22 shots by the time the first media timeout was called. True to the spirit of a rivalry contest, the Bearkats came out of the gate matching the Ladyjacks basket for basket. After SFA opened up a six point lead with 2:31 left in the quarter on a trifecta from Kennedy Harris, the Bearkats scored five straight to close the gap to 17-16 at the end of the first quarter.

After a pitched affair in the opening stanza, the 'Jacks created some breathing room in the second quarter with a 10-0 run, which opened up a 28-18 lead. Three-pointers from Lovisa Brunnberg and Marissa Banfield got the run started, and before all was said and done a Hayes layup and a Brunnberg jumper capped off the blitz. Sam Houston State remained undeterred, however, and used a 7-0 run to trim the lead to 33-30 with 1:05 left to play in the half. Even after a pair of Hayes free throws to close out the scoring in the frame, the 'Jacks carried just a five-point lead into the halftime break.

Coming out of the halftime break, both offenses stagnated to open the third quarter, as a string of six turnovers by the two teams led to a scoring drought lasting the first two minutes of play. The two teams traded baskets back and forth before the Ladyjacks got five quick points off a Parker jumper and a Harris trey to open up a 45-36 lead with 4:51 left to play. With 1:28 left to go in the third, a layup but Harvey got the lead up to 52-45, before Sam Houston State responded with a jumper one minute later. That gave SFA the final shot of the quarter, and Banfield drove baseline and was fouled hard, setting up an inbounds play with 1.6 seconds left to play. A quick pass in to Parker set up a short jumper, which bounced on the rim and in at the buzzer to retake the 11-point lead for SFA after three quarters of play.
If the Ladyjacks received a boost from the way they played the third quarter, then opening the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run was as picturesque a start as a team could want. The Bearkats did not score in the fourth quarter until the 5:29 mark, and would manage just ten points in the quarter, with the majority coming after the Ladyjacks had opened up a 20+ point lead on the visitors. Jackson punctuated the victory with late trifectas in the game's final three minutes to ice the contest and give her a career high in treys.

"We're kind of past that third quarter hiccup, I think we've won three of four of those in a row now, so now the idea is just to play 40 minutes and sustain it," Kellogg added. "We didn't come close to that probably tonight, maybe didn't need it, but we've had moments where we have been doing things a little better, kids are getting more comfortable, like Taylor Jackson, whose scored in double-figures in nine of her last 10 games. I thought Kennedy Harris was really good tonight as well with 10 points, six assists and defending the other team's best player on the wing every night, so it's fun to see and fun to play that way."

SFA bested rival Sam Houston State in multiple facets of the contest, including building small advantages in rebounding (33-29), points in the paint (30-24) and fast break points (7-4). Bigger advantages came in second chance points (21-9) and points off turnovers, where the 'Jacks created opportunities from defense and hustle.

Having completed its four-game homestand with as many wins, the Ladyjacks next hit the road for contests at Houston Baptisti on January 31 and Lamar on February 3.

-SFA-