Wednesday, February 7
Nacogdoches, Texas
7:00 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
vs
McNeese
Ladyjacks Look to Get Back to Winning Ways With Midweek Matchup at Home
2/6/2018 4:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SFA and McNeese set for 60th matchup in all-time series
Wednesday vs. McNeese
7:00 p.m | Nacogdoches, Texas | William R. Johnson Coliseum
Live stats | Audio | Video | SFA Game Notes | McNeese Game Notes
7:00 p.m | Nacogdoches, Texas | William R. Johnson Coliseum
Live stats | Audio | Video | SFA Game Notes | McNeese Game Notes
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Just days after suffering its first loss in nearly two months, the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team looks to rebound from the loss when it hosts fourth-place McNeese at home on Wednesday evening. SFA (17-4, 9-1 SLC) is half a game behind Lamar in second place entering the midweek matchup with McNeese 10-11 (6-4 SLC), which is the lone regular-season matchup between the two teams.
The matchup will be shown on ESPN3, with a complete play-by-play call of the game available for viewers of the game or listeners on Q107.7, with Bobby Mauro on the call. Fans are also encouraged to follow along with the live stats link above, as well as following @sfa_wbb on Twitter to catch in-game updates.
Even after seeing its 11-game win streak (the third double-digit win streak in as many seasons for SFA) snapped in Beaumont over the weekend, SFA is still very much in the hunt for the Southland Conference title. The "Jacks still have just one loss in Southland play, and will have chances to rise through the remainder of the SLC schedule.
"We don't need to overreact to one loss," said SFA head coach Mark Kellogg. "It's just one game, they all count the same, and we've said that along, even after some of our big home wins. We still control our own destiny, so we'll put that one behind us while we prepare for McNeese."
Wednesday night represents another Southland series that the Ladyjacks have traditionally gotten the best of, to the tune of a 46-13 all-time series record. That includes wins for SFA in each of the past three matchups, as well as a 27-2 record against the Cowgirls inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
For the Ladyjacks, there's no place better than their own home court to try and get back to the winning ways that have led them to the Southland's best record. SFA has posted a 33-6 record at William R. Johnson Coliseum in the past three seasons, including an 11-0 mark this season, and play some of their best defense in Nacogdoches.
McNeese has seen an uptick in its play as of late, and the team has won four of five to move into a tie for fourth in conference play at 6-4 (10-11 Southland). The Cowgirls do a good job on offense, pacing the Southland's fourth-highest scoring offense at 64.8 points per game, and a cursory look at the rebounding numbers for the team explains it all. McNeese is the Southland's top rebounding team at 42.6 boards per contest, and ranks second in offensive rebounding with 16.6, on average. A pair of double-digit scorers in Caitlin Davis (11.2) and Dede Sheppard (10.4) pace the Cowgirls, but steady contributions from Mercedes Rogers (8.3pts/7.3rebs), Bre'Ashlee Jones (7.2pts/6.8rebs) and Keara Hudnall (9.0pts/3.2rebs) provide a steady base for the team.
"They're tied for fourth right now in the league, and they've been playing better as of late," quipped Kellogg. "They've traditionally been and are once again a strong rebounding team, they have a really good point guard who is just a sophomore and really talented in the open floor. They have some kids who can shoot the three, and if they miss it they're going to go get it, so we have to put emphasis on the rebounding again like we did at Lamar."
On the defensive side of the ball, McNeese measures up solidly in the middle of the pack, allowing an average of 67.1 points per game in conference play while allowing opponents to shoot 40 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Furthermore, the recent uptick for McNeese came against the four programs in the bottom of the Southland standings, with the lopsided loss coming at the hands of Lamar. In a matchup in St. Charles last season, the Ladyjacks slammed McNeese 96-65 behind 28 points from Taylor Ross and a double-double effort from Stevi Parker.
Parker's stretch of consecutive double-doubles came to an end in the Lamar contest on Saturday, despite a strong performance on the boards which resulted in 14 rebounds for the redshirt senior. Despite that, Parker remains the lone player in the Southland that is averaging double-digit rebounds, she leads the Southland in double-doubles with ten, and is ranked 22nd national in rebounding with 10.2 per contest. Also continuing strong levels of play were Taylor Jackson and Chanell Hayes, who finished with 23 and 18 points, respectively, in the loss to Lamar. The duo were especially explosive to begin the contest, as they combined to score the team's first 24 points of the game and finished with 41 of the total 65 points.
"Both of them were really good offensively, I just wish we had had somebody else to get in there and help out. We needed their scoring, without question, but we just couldn't get anyone else going that night, we couldn't get Stevi going, couldn't get Kennedy (Harris) going, we missed some layups inside that we'd like to have back. We just never got into a flow and rhythm on offense, so we've got to do a better job of that."
The Ladyjacks offense has been on an upward trend in the most recent stretch of games. After posting sub-.400 shooting efforts in tough, defensive wins over UIW, ACU and UCA, the Ladyjacks have posted three straight 40 percent and above shooting performances, highlighted by an increased accuracy from deep. The 'Jacks had posted back-to-back games with 10 made three-pointers heading into the Lamar contest, and shot 8-19 from beyond the arc in that contest to the tune of a near-season best 42.1 percent clip. SFA has also committed even more to looking to complete the extra pass, as evidenced by an average of 18.6 assists over the last three games and a Southland-best 15.27 assists per game.
SFA is 2-1 in games following a loss this season, and has lost back-to-back games just twice dating back to the beginning of last season. In Southland Conference games played on Wednesdays this season, the Ladyjacks are a perfect 5-0, and in games played against McNeese since taking over at SFA, Mark Kellogg is 2-0.
-SFA-
The matchup will be shown on ESPN3, with a complete play-by-play call of the game available for viewers of the game or listeners on Q107.7, with Bobby Mauro on the call. Fans are also encouraged to follow along with the live stats link above, as well as following @sfa_wbb on Twitter to catch in-game updates.
Even after seeing its 11-game win streak (the third double-digit win streak in as many seasons for SFA) snapped in Beaumont over the weekend, SFA is still very much in the hunt for the Southland Conference title. The "Jacks still have just one loss in Southland play, and will have chances to rise through the remainder of the SLC schedule.
"We don't need to overreact to one loss," said SFA head coach Mark Kellogg. "It's just one game, they all count the same, and we've said that along, even after some of our big home wins. We still control our own destiny, so we'll put that one behind us while we prepare for McNeese."
Wednesday night represents another Southland series that the Ladyjacks have traditionally gotten the best of, to the tune of a 46-13 all-time series record. That includes wins for SFA in each of the past three matchups, as well as a 27-2 record against the Cowgirls inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
For the Ladyjacks, there's no place better than their own home court to try and get back to the winning ways that have led them to the Southland's best record. SFA has posted a 33-6 record at William R. Johnson Coliseum in the past three seasons, including an 11-0 mark this season, and play some of their best defense in Nacogdoches.
McNeese has seen an uptick in its play as of late, and the team has won four of five to move into a tie for fourth in conference play at 6-4 (10-11 Southland). The Cowgirls do a good job on offense, pacing the Southland's fourth-highest scoring offense at 64.8 points per game, and a cursory look at the rebounding numbers for the team explains it all. McNeese is the Southland's top rebounding team at 42.6 boards per contest, and ranks second in offensive rebounding with 16.6, on average. A pair of double-digit scorers in Caitlin Davis (11.2) and Dede Sheppard (10.4) pace the Cowgirls, but steady contributions from Mercedes Rogers (8.3pts/7.3rebs), Bre'Ashlee Jones (7.2pts/6.8rebs) and Keara Hudnall (9.0pts/3.2rebs) provide a steady base for the team.
"They're tied for fourth right now in the league, and they've been playing better as of late," quipped Kellogg. "They've traditionally been and are once again a strong rebounding team, they have a really good point guard who is just a sophomore and really talented in the open floor. They have some kids who can shoot the three, and if they miss it they're going to go get it, so we have to put emphasis on the rebounding again like we did at Lamar."
On the defensive side of the ball, McNeese measures up solidly in the middle of the pack, allowing an average of 67.1 points per game in conference play while allowing opponents to shoot 40 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Furthermore, the recent uptick for McNeese came against the four programs in the bottom of the Southland standings, with the lopsided loss coming at the hands of Lamar. In a matchup in St. Charles last season, the Ladyjacks slammed McNeese 96-65 behind 28 points from Taylor Ross and a double-double effort from Stevi Parker.
Parker's stretch of consecutive double-doubles came to an end in the Lamar contest on Saturday, despite a strong performance on the boards which resulted in 14 rebounds for the redshirt senior. Despite that, Parker remains the lone player in the Southland that is averaging double-digit rebounds, she leads the Southland in double-doubles with ten, and is ranked 22nd national in rebounding with 10.2 per contest. Also continuing strong levels of play were Taylor Jackson and Chanell Hayes, who finished with 23 and 18 points, respectively, in the loss to Lamar. The duo were especially explosive to begin the contest, as they combined to score the team's first 24 points of the game and finished with 41 of the total 65 points.
"Both of them were really good offensively, I just wish we had had somebody else to get in there and help out. We needed their scoring, without question, but we just couldn't get anyone else going that night, we couldn't get Stevi going, couldn't get Kennedy (Harris) going, we missed some layups inside that we'd like to have back. We just never got into a flow and rhythm on offense, so we've got to do a better job of that."
The Ladyjacks offense has been on an upward trend in the most recent stretch of games. After posting sub-.400 shooting efforts in tough, defensive wins over UIW, ACU and UCA, the Ladyjacks have posted three straight 40 percent and above shooting performances, highlighted by an increased accuracy from deep. The 'Jacks had posted back-to-back games with 10 made three-pointers heading into the Lamar contest, and shot 8-19 from beyond the arc in that contest to the tune of a near-season best 42.1 percent clip. SFA has also committed even more to looking to complete the extra pass, as evidenced by an average of 18.6 assists over the last three games and a Southland-best 15.27 assists per game.
SFA is 2-1 in games following a loss this season, and has lost back-to-back games just twice dating back to the beginning of last season. In Southland Conference games played on Wednesdays this season, the Ladyjacks are a perfect 5-0, and in games played against McNeese since taking over at SFA, Mark Kellogg is 2-0.
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
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