Ladyjacks Outlast Lady Pirates to Win Lobo Invitational Opener, 70-68

Wednesday, December 19

Albuquerque, NM

5:30 PM CST

Stephen F. Austin

Hampton University

Hampton

SFA

Ladyjacks Outlast Lady Pirates to Win Lobo Invitational Opener, 70-68

12/19/2018 7:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SFA registers first neutral site win of the season thanks to 47-point first half

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

ALBUQUERQUE, NM. – A strong first half for SFA in the opening game of the Lobo Invitational spurred the Ladyjacks (8-2) on to a 70-68 victory in the opening round of the four-team tournament. SFA scored 47 first-half points behind 51 percent shooting and weathered a second-half storm from Hampton in winning their fourth straight and first neutral site game of the season. Chanell Hayes scored a go-ahead layup with 28 seconds left and later added a free throw to put the contest on ice for SFA.

Hayes led SFA with a 24-point effort, while Marissa Banfield chipped in 12 points. Hayes also hauled down seven rebounds.

TAKING THE LEAD
With the game tied 6-6 early in the first quarter, the Ladyjacks went on an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to open up a 17-8 lead. From there, SFA added a point to its lead in the final minutes by outscoring Hampton 6-5 the rest of the way and would lead 23-13 at the end of the first. 13 of SFA's 23 initial 23 points came off of Hampton turnovers, as the Lady Pirates committed eight miscues in the frame.

BUILDING THE LEAD
After a couple minutes of back and forth play between the two teams to open the quarter, the 'Jacks extended the lead up to 17 points on four separate occasions in the second quarter. Hayes had six points in the stanza while Banfield added four, as SFA outscored the Lady Pirates 24-19 in the frame. After shooting 69 percent from the field and 60 percent from three-point land in the quarter, SFA would take a 47-32 lead into the halftime break.

IT'S NOT OVER YET
Despite trialing by fifteen at the break, the Lady Pirates came out with a resurgent effort in the third quarter and took advantage of a lackadaisical effort by the Ladyjacks to win the quarter 19-10. The third quarter would end with a three ball by the Lady Pirates that trimmed the lead to just 57-51 heading into the fourth quarter.

HAYES COMES UP BIG
Hampton's resurgence and a string of bad luck for the Ladyjacks continued in the fourth quarter, as the 'Jacks found themselves in a dogfight at the final media timeout of the game. A 12-7 edge for the Lady Pirates cut the SFA lead to 64-63 as the action paused. Hampton would later seize their first lead of the game, 68-67, on a pair of free throws by Laren VanArsdale with 1:33 remaing, two of her 21 points on the night. Needing a basket in a bad way, SFA ran a well executed screen for Hayes, who made a contested layup with 28 seconds left for the go-ahead basket. Her free throw with five second left after rebounding a missed shot by Hampton put SFA up by two points, and an ensuing shot by the Lady Pirates at the buzzer missed to give SFA the victory.

UP NEXT
SFA awaits the winner of the New Mexico-Sacramento State contest to find out their opponent for tomorrow's contest, and the time in which they will play it. A finalized schedule for tomorrow will be available later tonight on sfajacks.com.

OF NOTE
• SFA has now played in 12 different states while under the direction of head coach Mark Kellogg, and is 17-12 in those games.
• Wednesday's result is the first game this season for SFA in which the final margin was less than five points.
• SFA improves to 11-7 in games decided by five or less points during Kellogg's tenure.
• Chanell Hayes registered the fourth 20+ point game of the 2018-19 season by scoring a team-high 24 points. The effort was her third such game this season.
• SFA's 47 first-half points was the second highest total in a half this season, trailing only their 50-point half against Wiley at home on December 1^st.
• SFA improved to 4-0 this season against first-time opponents.

-SFA-