Ladyjacks Make it Rain in Win Over Texans

Wednesday, November 29

Stephenville, TX

7:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

4-2,1-0WAC

Tarleton State University

1-4,0-1WAC

SFA

Tarleton St.

Ladyjacks Make it Rain in Win Over Texans

11/29/2023 10:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

STEPHENVILLE, Texas- The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Basketball team (4-2, 1-0) finished with a convincing win over the Tarleton State Texans (1-4, 0-1) on Wednesday evening to kickoff conference play.

The Ladyjacks came into Stephenville carrying plenty of confidence as they were coming off two double-digit wins in a 73-58 win over Texas Southern and a 67-56 win over Rice. The first points of the night came off a turnover forced by the Ladyjack defense as reigning WAC Player of the Week Kurstyn Harden recorded a steal and fed Kyla Deck who laid one off the glass and gave SFA the early 2-0 lead. The first quarter saw both teams exchanging buckets consistently as neither team held more than a five-point lead. Trailing 13-8, Kyla Deck drained a three pointer to cut the Tarleton lead back down to two, however Tarleton finished the quarter strong as they went on a 5-0 run to end the quarter and held an 18-11 lead after one. The start of the second quarter saw the Ladyjacks start making it rain triples as Tyler McCliment-Call knocked one down just 14 seconds into the quarter before Destini Lombard drained back-to-back threes and put SFA in front 20-18 thanks to a 9-0 run. The second quarter was another tightly contested quarter as neither team was able to gain much of a lead as the largest lead belonged to the 'Jacks when they held a 29-25 lead over the Texans powered by a pair of Kyla Deck three pointers. Tarleton went on a 5-0 run just before the half and found themselves ahead 30-29, however, Zoe Nelson drained the Ladyjacks sixth three pointer of the quarter with 10 seconds left and staked SFA to a 32-30 lead at halftime.

Tarleton came out strong to start the second half by going on an 8-2 run and quickly found themselves ahead 38-34. Tarleton would see this lead increase to as many as seven as they led 45-38 at one point, however, the Ladyjacks would not go down without a fight as they found their groove late in the third quarter and went on a 10-2 run to reclaim a slim 48-47 lead. The two schools exchanged buckets in the last 30 seconds of the quarter which was highlighted by Destini Lombard making a driving layup with less than 10 seconds to go in the quarter to keep the score tied at 50 apiece heading to the fourth. The Ladyjack offense made sure to close this game out and leave no doubt about it as they exploded for 30 points in the fourth quarter as they went on runs of 12-4 and 10-2 to help them cruise to an 80-67 win over the Texans.

Four Ladyjacks finished with double-digit points against Tarleton and were led by Kyla Deck who was the powerhouse for the Ladyjack offense tonight as she finished with a career-high 24 points and made a career-high six three pointers. Reigning WAC Player of the Week Kurstyn Harden continues to provide unparalleled consistency for SFA as she recorded her second straight double-double as she finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Avery VanSickle was red hot from downtown all night as she drained four triples of her own and finished with 15 points. Destini Lombard continues to produce all over the court for SFA as she finished with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, one block, and two steals.

SFA finished the game shooting 37% from the field but made up for it by making a season-high 14 three pointers as they shot 40% from downtown. The Ladyjacks also had another efficient and effective day from the charity stripe as they shot 83% from the free throw line. Another solid defensive effort from the 'Jacks helped them close out the win tonight as they finished with 39 total rebounds, four blocks, and six steals. This defensive effort led to 18 points off turnovers, 12 second chance points, and 13 fast break points. This game saw the lead exchange hands 16 different times and featured six times the score was tied.

The Ladyjacks will carry their three-game win streak back home as they get set to do battle with another conference rival in the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Saturday, December 2^nd at 2:00 pm. CST.