Stephen F. Austin
#4 Nicholls
Ladyjacks Make 21st Southland Conference Tournament Championship Appearance in Clash with Colonels
3/11/2018 12:07:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SFA owns a 45-14 record in Southland Conference Tournament games
#2 Stephen F. Austin vs. #4 Nicholls
12:00 p.m | Katy, Texas | Merrell Center
Live stats | Audio | Video | SFA Notes | Nicholls Notes
KATY, Texas -- And then there were two.
All the wins, all the storylines and all the hard work have led to this moment, as the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team will return to the Southland Tournament Championship game for the second straight season on Sunday.
Sunday's contest will be shown live on CBS Sports Network, with Lincoln Rose and Van Chancellor providing color and play-by-play commentary. Those looking to follow the Ladyjacks on the airwaves can do so on FM Q107.7, with Bobby Mauro providing a seasoned call of all things Ladyjack basketball. Fans can also follow the Ladyjacks on Twitter (@sfa_wbb) for in-game updates, and are encouraged to follow along with the live stats links above.
A semifinals win over Central Arkansas –the third over the Sugar Bears this season—punched SFA's ticket to the title game and a matchup with fourth-seeded Nicholls, who added just a bit of madness to the month of March by knocking off top-seeded Lamar in earlier action on Saturday. The matchups pits two teams with entirely different tournament resumes against each other, as SFA's extensive tradition of Southland Tournament success and 45 tournament victories clash with Nicholls in their first tournament championship game appearance as a program, and coming off just their fourth Southland tournament victory on Saturday.
A battle of wills and depth is likely in order on Sunday, as fatigue is a definite consideration for both teams having played less than 24 hours before, and Nicholls on game three of the tournament already. The Colonels outlasted a pesky Texas A&M-Corpus Christi squad on Thursday before triumphing over Lamar on Friday, and both teams will lose an hour of rest with Daylight Savings Time coming into effect overnight. These factors do not suggest a poor showing from both teams on Sunday, however, as both teams are playing at an extremely high level coming into the game.
Nicholls comes into Sunday's contest riding a six-game winning streak, thanks in large part to the efforts of guard/forward Cassidy Barrios. The 2018 Southland Conference Player of the Year, Barrios leads the Colonels in nearly every offensive category, and is averaging 17.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.9 steals per game. Nowhere was her importance to her team more on display than in the semifinal victory over Lamar, when the junior hit several big shots down the stretch on the way to a game-high 27 points (5-7 3-Pt.). Spelling Barrios is the duo of Tykeria Williams (13.0 points, 3.4 rebounds per game) and Tia Charles (9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists).
Having met just once this season, an 86-73 SFA victory in Thibodaux back on January 3, the two teams have come quite a ways since that preliminary matchup, with the Ladyjacks locking up the second seed despite a grueling conference schedule, and the Colonels rampaging through the Southland ranks to seize the fourth spot thanks to the six-game winning streak. The all-time series between the two programs leans heavily in SFA's favor, as the Ladyjacks have won 45 of the 51 matchups, including three straight.
Throughout his coaching career, Mark Kellogg has done little else but win, and in his three seasons in Nacogdoches, he has continued a long standing tradition of Ladyjack basketball. The third year coach has amassed a .779 winning percentage in his career, and a .731mark (68-25) at Stephen F. Austin. Having led the 'Jacks to a second straight 20+ win season, a 16-2 conference finish and a second straight conference tournament championship, Kellogg is looking to lead the Ladyjacks to their first tournament title since the 2006 season and 16th overall.
If the 'Jacks are going to pull it off, then they'll likely do so relying on a trio of players in Stevi Parker, Chanell Hayes and Taylor Jackson. Jackson and Parker, both seniors, have been instrumental to SFA's success up to this point have unfinished business in the conference tournament championship after falling in the event last season. In Saturday's semifinal, Parker poured in a season-high 22 points, while Hayes scored 12 and Jackson, 10. The trio has been a major barometer for SFA's success this season, but it is in the Southland Tournament title game where SFA's depth may prove to be most pivotal. With just five members of the bench unit available for Sunday's finale, it is good news for the 'Jacks that all have accorded themselves well whenever called upon this season, and have been able to be a dangerous weapon for SFA when the starters rest.
That bench unit, consisting of outside shooters Lovisa Brunnberg and Marissa Banfield, as well as forwards Riley Harvey and Aaliyah Johnson and winger Brionne Burns, didn't see much court time in Saturday's semifinal contest, as the matchup with UCA demanded the attention of SFA's starting matchups for the lion's share of the game. That leaves SFA bench unit, coming off a double bye in the first place, with likely the freshest legs of anyone in the tournament, and the potential is there for them to make an impact against the Colonels, as they did in the first meeting (19 bench points).
Defensively, the Colonels will have to contend with a pesky Ladyjacks defense that held Barrios in check (3-15 FG) in the first meeting and forced 18 Colonel turnovers. While not exceptional against UCA on Saturday afternoon, the SFA defense did clamp down at several points in the game, leading to momentum swings that ultimately decided the contest.
Owning a 45-14 record in Southland Conference Tournament play as a program, the 'Jacks have the bonus of tradition and experience behind them. The majority of players on SFA's roster have lived the experience of a conference championship game, and those that have not will have experience surrounding them as they go. For SFA, the chance to add to a Southland-best mark of 16 tournament titles, as well as winning the first tournament title since 2006, are motivation enough for leaving it all out on the court on Sunday.
-SFA-
