Ladyjacks Stave Off Furious Portland Rally to Claim Fifth Straight Win

Thursday, December 7

Nacogdoches, TX

6:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

6-2,2-0WAC

University of Portland

5-5,0-0WCC

Portland

SFA

Ladyjacks Stave Off Furious Portland Rally to Claim Fifth Straight Win

12/7/2023 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas. - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team (6-2, 2-0) continued their strong play on Thursday evening as they fended off a fourth quarter Portland Pilots (5-5, 0-0) rally in route to a 76-71 win.

The Ladyjacks concluded their short two-game home stint against the Portland Pilots looking to extend their winning streak to five games. SFA came into this game on the heels of a thrilling 89-82 double-overtime home win over conference rival Abilene Christian to stay undefeated in conference play to begin the season.

The first quarter saw Portland start the scoring for the game as Lucy Cochrane, coming off a solid nine rebound, six block performance against Montana State, drained a triple for the Pilots to get them out to an early 3-0 lead. Kyla Deck, coming off a WAC Player of the Week award, responded immediately for SFA as she was able to get into the paint and lay one off the glass to get SFA their first points of the evening. These two schools would trade baskets back-and-forth through the first half of the quarter as Portland held a slim 12-8 lead over SFA helped by Lucy Cochrane, who scored seven of the first 12 points for the Pilots. Portland would be able to extend their four-point lead into a nine-point lead as they went on a 5-0 run and held their largest lead of the game at 17-8. Portland would maintain their nine-point lead with four minutes left in the first, and with SFA trailing 19-10 late in the first, however, the Ladyjack offense finished the quarter on a strong note. SFA would close the first on a 6-0 scoring run led by Kurstyn Harden, who scored four of the six points, and only found themselves down by three, 19-16, at the end of one at the Sawmill.

The beginning of the second quarter remained a tightly contested affair as SFA was able to cut the Portland lead to a single point on two different occasions. However, Kyla Deck continued her dominant shooting for SFA as she knocked down the Ladyjacks first three-pointer of the game three minutes into the second and gave SFA their first lead of the game at 24-23. With the game tied at 25 apiece halfway through the second, SFA would pull to their largest lead of the game to that point as they went on a 9-1 scoring run led by Lydia Cooke-Wiggins who drained a pair of free-throws before splashing the Ladyjacks second three of the quarter to push the 'Jacks to a 34-26 lead. However, the Pilots would get the last score of the half as Kennedy Dickie recorded her eighth point of the game with a buzzer beating layup to cut the SFA to six at halftime at 34-28.

Both teams began the second half on a scoring spree as both teams exchanged a pair of buckets in the first two minutes of the third quarter, however, SFA still maintained a 38-32 lead. The Ladyjacks continued their strong shooting in the third as Kurstyn Harden knocked down a pair of free-throws which was followed by Mimi Gatewood and Destini Lombard driving home a pair of layups for SFA and the Ladyjacks found themselves with a 12-point, 44-32, lead just four minutes into the third. Portland continued to claw away at the SFA lead throughout the quarter as they were able to cut it back to single digits at 48-40 with two minutes remaining in the quarter. However, Destini Lombard capitalized on a pair of free-throws, and Tyler McCliment-Call drained a three-pointer, which was followed by a Zoe Nelson layup to launch SFA to the largest lead of the game by either side at 55-40. However, the Pilots would grab the last score of the quarter once again as they ended the third on a high note thanks to a Dyani Ananiev triple with 20 seconds left in the quarter to cut SFA's lead to 55-42 at the end of the third.

Trailing by double-digits to behind the fourth, the Pilots started the final quarter with a great sense of urgency to try and claim their second straight double-digit come-from-behind win. The Pilots scored eight of the first 10 points in the fourth as they went on an 8-2 run and cut SFA's lead back down to six points at 57-51 just two and a half minutes into the final quarter. A Destini Lombard steal led to a Kyla Deck layup, which Deck followed by recording a steal of her own and taking it coast-to-coast to score her second straight bucket and push SFA back to a double-digit 61-51 lead. After an Emme Shearer layup cut the SFA lead back to eight, Tyler McCliment-Call splashed her second triple of the night to give SFA their double-digit lead right back at 64-53. Dyani Ananiev caught fire for the Pilots midway through the fourth as she drained a pair of three-pointers to help spark an 8-0 Portland run and trim SFA's lead to a mere three points at 64-61. Avery VanSickle continued her strong three-point shooting as she was able to respond to Ananiev's threes with a triple of her own to push SFA back ahead 67-61. Portland would once again cut the Ladyjacks lead to three at 67-64, however, once again the Ladyjacks had a response as Kyla Deck knocked down a three-pointer for SFA and they maintained a 70-64 lead with under two minutes left. Emme Shearer and McKelle Meek made free-throws for Portland to help Portland claw back to a 70-67 deficit with one minute left in the quarter. Destini Lombard would respond for SFA as she banked home a layup with 35 seconds remaining in the game to keep it a two-score game for SFA. However, Dyani Ananiev continued her lights-out shooting for the Pilots as she would drain her third three-pointer of the quarter and SFA's lead was once again cut to two points. Avery VanSickle was able to draw a foul and took full advantage of it as she hit both her free-throw attempts and pushed SFA right back to a 74-70 lead. Lucy Cochrane would make a free-throw to move the deficit back to three for Portland, however, Kurstyn Harden slammed the door shut on the Pilots as she made a layup with seven seconds left to seal a 76-71 win for the Ladyjacks and deny Portland of a late rally.

Kurstyn Harden continues her unbelievable start to the season as she has provided unparalleled consistent scoring for SFA. Harden has now recorded double-digit points in eight straight games to begin the season for SFA as she scored 21 points to lead all Ladyjacks tonight and recorded her third game this season with 20 or more points. Kyla Deck continues to form a potent scoring duo with Harden as she went over double-digit points for her third straight game as she finished with 14 points second to only Harden. Destini Lombard dished out assists at will tonight as she led the team with nine assists, while also pitching in five rebounds, three steals, one block, and eight points. This effort for Lombard marked the third straight game she has recorded at least one point, one rebound, one steal, and one block for the Ladyjacks. Zoe Nelson also contributed all over the court tonight as she tied Harden for the team lead in rebounds with seven, handed out four assists, recorded two steals and two blocks, while also scoring eight points of her own. Tyler McCliment-Call made a pair of three-pointers to tie with Deck for the team lead for the evening.

SFA shot 44.4% overall from the field and made six three-pointers, which marked their fifth straight game with at least five made three-pointers, which has translated to five straight wins for SFA. The Ladyjacks took advantage of their free shots as they made 14 shots from the charity stripe, which played a key role in sealing a win for SFA tonight as Portland made a furious fourth quarter rally. The 'Jacks defense continued to force turnovers as they swatted away three shots, while swiping 10 steals, which led to 20 points off turnovers. Kurstyn Harden helped lead another solid game in the low post for SFA as they totaled 44 points in the paint, which marked their second highest total this season in that category.

The Ladyjacks will look to carry over their momentum as they will carry their five-game win streak with them into Tuscaloosa, Alabama when they get to square off with SEC opponent University of Alabama on Saturday, December 9th where tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CST.