Ladyjacks Surge Past Sugar Bears on Pink Night, 79-43

Wednesday, February 27

Nacogdoches, Texas

6:30 PM

Stephen F. Austin

22-4

Central Arkansas

11-14

Central Ark.

SFA

Ladyjacks Surge Past Sugar Bears on Pink Night, 79-43

2/27/2019 9:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SFA wins fifth straight game against Sugar Bears

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

NACOGDOCHES, Texas—The last time the Ladyjacks and Sugar Bears of Central Arkansas met, SFA had to pull out a gritty, low-scoring victory in Conway, Arkansas, a microcosm of the way the all-time series has gone.

Wednesday night, the 'Jacks had no such trouble dispatching the Sugar Bears by a 79-43 score thanks to highly accurate shooting and lockdown defense on UCA. The Ladyjacks connected on 55.3 percent (26-47) of field goals and 40 percent (10-25) of tries beyond the arc in the victory. SFA improves to 23-4 on the season and 14-1 in conference play with the victory, the 15^that home this season in as many tries.

SFA TOP PERFORMERS
• Stephanie Visscher had 19 points (6-8 FG/4-6 3-Pt) to lead her team, along with six assists, one steal and a block.
• Imani Johnson chipped in 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.
• Alyssa Mayfield just missed out on a double-double, notching 12 points and nine rebounds to go along with two steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED
SFA had a picturesque start to the contest, connecting on six of their first eight shots and jumping out to a 16-4 lead halfway through the opening quarter. SFA also forced four quick UCA turnovers and turned that into eight points on the other end of the floor. SFA would lead 20-5 at the end of the first quarter of play, thanks in part to nine points from Stephanie Visscher.

A 5-1 run by SFA which spanned the first six minutes of the second quarter extended the lead to 25-6. From there, however, the Sugar Bears would outscore the 'Jacks 10-6 to trim the lead back to 15, 31-16, heading into the halftime break.

The Ladyjacks extended the lead at will in the second half, outscoring UCA 48-27 and extending the lead up to a game-high 36 points with the final margin. The 'Jacks would knock down 6-11 shots in the third quarter and 9-14 in the fourth, including four treys. 28 points off 24 UCA turnovers helped the cause for SFA, along with a 12-0 edge in fastbreak points.

COACHES QUOTE
"Well it was a great night, I thought the Pink Night was great and the opportunity to bring awareness to the fight against cancer is special to us, it's special to women's basketball and it was really, really well done tonight", said SFA head coach Mark Kellogg. "It's part of the game, it obviously started well for us as we were locked in for most of the night and really never let them make any serious run against us."

"We wanted to move the ball and find ways to score against this team, because we've struggled to score against this team in the past because Sandra's teams are just so good defensively", added Kellogg. "It was nice to finally find a bit of rhythm, make some shots, get some buckets inside and clean up our turnovers from the first half. We moved the ball well, had 21 assists on 26 made baskets, that's tremendous. Everyone played and scored, so it was a pretty balanced effort."

OF NOTE
• Wednesday's game was a special moment for the fans, coaches and players in the Ladyjack community, as the Pink Night theme included recognition of 13 cancer survivors on court and many others in the stands. Additionally, each Ladyjack starter was announced with an accompanying "honorary starter", a cancer survivor donning the signature pink shirts. KK Nelson, a fourth grader who lives in Woden and is fighting cancer, served as an honorary coach on the Ladyjack bench.

• Chanell Hayes was also recognized in a short pregame ceremony for becoming the newest Ladyjack to reach 1000 career points. Hayes hit the milestone during SFA's most recent road trip.

• SFA converted on 55 percent of shots from the field, marking the 11^thtime in conference play they have shot 44 percent or better from the field.

• The Ladyjacks had another exceptional night moving the ball, as they registered assists on 21 of 26 made field goals in the contest.

• The 79 points scored the highest mark SFA has netted against UCA during the Mark Kellogg era, and with the win he improves to 5-4 against the Sugar Bears and Sandra Rushing in the past four seasons.

UP NEXT
A rematch with the Cardinals of Lamar University awaits the Ladyjacks on Saturday in Beaumont. Lamar and SFA are neck and neck in the Southland Conference regular season standings, and with a regular season title up for grabs the stakes are high. Tip-off is schedule for 2:00 p.m. inside the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas.

-SFA-