Wednesday, February 21
Conway, Arkansas
7:00 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
at
Central Arkansas
Ladyjacks Tip-off Pivotal Week of Competition With Midweek Rematch in Conway
2/20/2018 5:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Only four games remain in regular season schedule
Wednesday at The University of Central Arkansas
7:00 p.m | Conway, Arkansas | Farris Center
Live stats | Audio | Video | SFA Notes
7:00 p.m | Conway, Arkansas | Farris Center
Live stats | Audio | Video | SFA Notes
CONWAY, Arkansas – For the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team, every game this season has been important, whether a win or a loss. This week, the Ladyjacks play arguably the two most important games of the season to date, a pair of rematches with massive title implications. First and foremost is a road contest at one of the toughest places to play in the Southland, right behind William R. Johnson Coliseum.
The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears will host the Ladyjacks inside the Farris Center for a Wednesday night bout, a rematch of a 59-46 SFA victory earlier this season. The game is a critical game for SFA, who can't afford to fall off the pace set by current Southland leader Lamar ahead of the rematch with the Cardinals on Saturday. The game will be streamed through the Bear Nation Network via a link on http://ucasports.com . Fans can listen to the game on the airwaves at FM 94.7 KVLL, with the play-by-play call courtesy of Bobby Mauro. A link for live stats is also listed above, and fans can follow the Ladyjacks on Twitter (@sfa_wbb) for live updates as well.
Few teams stick to an identity better than the Sugar Bears, who doubled down on a suffocating defense last season and are once again rated as one of the top programs in the nation in scoring defense. That defense gave the Ladyjacks fits last season, not least of all in the Southland title game which featured a lopsided result in UCA's favor.
A well earned and hard fought victory was had by SFA earlier this season inside William R. Johnson Coliseum, the first by the Ladyjacks under head coach Mark Kellogg. In that game, the Ladyjacks flipped the script on UCA, holding them to just 46 points, completely shutting down perimeter scoring for the Sugar Bears and forcing then into turnovers. Having laid the blueprint for how to beat UCA, the Ladyjacks now travel to the Farris Center, an arena where until recently the Sugar Bears had gone an entire calendar year without a loss. An upset loss to the University of New Orleans on January 17th broke that streak, which had amounted to a total of 382 days since the last UCA loss there.
UCA sports a trio of double-digit scorers for an offense that averages 62.2 points a game. Taylor Baudoin (15.4 ppg) leads the Sugar Bears and is coming off a week in which she averaged 29.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. Those performances earned her Southland Conference Player of the Week honors for the third time this season. Also averaging double-digits for the Sugar Bears are guard Kamry Orr and center Kierra Jordan. Orr chips in 12.3 points per game, while Jordan averages 11.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest, the latter of which leads UCA.
The Ladyjacks will look to recreate the success they had in the first matchup against UCA's defense this season, and for that they will turn to a trio of scorers to carry the brunt of the load, as well as counting on a capable supporting cast.
SFA's top point-scorer in each of the past two contest, Chanell Hayes continues to grow into her role as a capable scorer on the wing for SFA. Her average of 12.3 points per game is second on the team to forward Stevi Parker, but the junior has continued to increase her aggressiveness on the offensive end. Alongside Hayes is Parker, the Southland's leading rebounder and SFA's top scorer at 12.6 points per game. With 10 double-doubles, she's the most consistent contributor for SFA this season and chips in with multiple statistical categories. Running the point and serving as the primary ball handler for the Ladyjacks is Taylor Jackson, who averages 2.7 assists per game and 11.0 points for the 'Jacks.
Against Incarnate Word on Saturday, SFA was deadly from beyond the arc, part of a trend in the later half of the season in which the 'Jacks have started to flex their strength beyond the arc. Setting a new season-high in made three-pointers was a group effort, as four starters hit from deep, and three members of the bench unit chipped in as well. Lovisa Brunnberg made the most of her 13 minutes of action, netting 12 points off 80 percent shooting from the arc, the third such game this season in which she has hit three or more treys. Brunnberg is connecting on a ridiculous 46.3 (25-54) percent of attempts from beyond the arc this season. Not to be outdone, freshman Marissa Banfield has shown an adept three-point touch, ranking third on the team in made attempts, with 32.
After facing two Southland programs (Northwestern State & UIW) ranked number one in three-point defense in the past three weeks, and torching each in turn, it appears SFA's touch from deep is undeniable. SFA has hit seven or more three-pointers in eight straight games, including four double-digit performances in that span. In conference play, SFA has made the second most three-pointers in the Southland at 120 (8.0 per game), while UCA ranks third from the bottom in made three-pointers per game, at 4.4 per contest.
The respect given to the defense of Central Arkansas is well known, and well-deserved. Perhaps one of the least discussed storylines in the Southland this season has been SFA's defense, which currently ranks third in the conference in scoring defense at 59.1 points per game. Where the 'Jacks have really set themselves apart is in the ability to generate turnovers, a facet in which they rank eighth in the nation at just under 23 turnovers forced per game. Furthermore, the 'Jacks defense has yet to generate less than 17 opponent turnovers in a game this season, even against some of the most cautious and sharp opponents, perhaps making that facet of the SFA defense matchup-proof.
The closest of any Southland opponent series, the all-time series with UCA belongs to SFA, but by a slim margin of two wins. Of the 20 matchups, SFA has notched wins in 11 of them, but is just 3-5 in Conway, with the last win there coming back in 2014-15, a 73-46 victory for the Ladyjacks.
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