Fueled by Nelson and Harden Double-Doubles, ‘Jacks Sweep Homestand

Saturday, January 13

Nacogdoches, TX

2:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

11-6,5-1WAC

Southern Utah University

4-10,2-3WAC

Southern Utah

SFA

Fueled by Nelson and Harden Double-Doubles, ‘Jacks Sweep Homestand

1/13/2024 5:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas. - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team (11-6, 5-1) continues their dominant play in both conference and at home as they cruise past the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (4-10, 2-3), 68-53 on Saturday afternoon.

The 'Jacks were looking to end their home stand on a high note and carry over their confidence from 76-67 win over Utah Tech on Thursday, before starting a four-game road trip next week. The win improved the Ladyjacks home record to 8-2 on the season, while moving their conference record to a solid 5-1 showing in the early part of conference play.

SFA came out of the gates firing in this one as they rattled off the first nine points of the game thanks to the dynamic duo of Tyler McCliment-Call and Kurstyn Harden. Following a Harden layup fifteen seconds into the game, McCliment-Call hit back-to-back shots including her first three-pointer of the game, which was promptly followed by another Harden layup and SFA launched ahead 9-0 in the first two minutes of the game. However, the Thunderbirds would have the answer to the 'Jacks scoring run as they turned around and scored six straight points of their own courtesy of four points from Daylani Ballena and found themselves only trailing 9-6. Zoe Nelson would start her big day halfway through the first as she would hit a pair of jumpers for SFA to move them ahead 13-8 at the halfway point of the first. After back-to-back baskets for the Thunderbirds moved the SFA lead down to 14-12, Destini Lombard found Lydia Cooke-Wiggins for a three-pointer to give SFA a 17-12 lead. The 'Jacks would end the first on a strong note as Tyler McCliment-Call hit her second triple of the quarter, which was followed by Cooke-Wiggins banking home a layup with 90 seconds to wrap up the scoring in the first and give SFA a 22-14 lead after one.

The Thunderbirds and Ladyjacks exchanged baskets in the first three minutes of the second as Zoe Nelson and Kurstyn Harden got the SFA scoring for the second quarter. Following a Samantha Johnston three-pointer that pulled Southern Utah to within five of SFA at 28-23, Zoe Nelson and Kyla Deck hit consecutive jumpers to keep SFA in the lead at seven as the score stood at 32-25 with four minutes remaining. The remainder of the second was a defensive battle between the two teams as each school would only make one basket each over the final four minutes. Avery VanSickle scored her first points of the contest thanks to a Lydia Cooke-Wiggins steal which led to her feeding VanSickle for a fast break layup and moved the SFA lead to nine at 34-25. However, the Thunderbirds would get the last say in scoring for the quarter as the freshman Ava Uhrich would hit a layup with less than 30 seconds left to close out scoring for the second with SFA remaining in the lead, 34-27 at halftime.

Ava Uhrich continued her strong game as she opened up scoring for the second half with a jumper to bring Southern Utah to within five at 34-29. This would led to a flurry of buckets for both sides as Kurstyn Harden would hit consecutive layups, to which the Thunderbirds answered with baskets of their own to keep the deficit at five with SFA leading 38-33. Destini Lombard would hit the 'Jacks first three-pointer of the second half three minutes into the third to give SFA a 41-33 lead. Following a Daylani Ballena layup for Southern Utah, Trinity Moore would drive into the paint and draw a foul while hitting the bucket, and finishing off the and-one with her free-throw to give SFA a double-digit 45-35 lead halfway through the third. Following a Ballena and-one play, Lydia Cooke-Wiggins and Kyla Deck would each hit a jumper to move the SFA lead back to double-digits at 49-38 with three minutes remaining. Kurstyn Harden would join the and-one party as she would convert one of her own with 90 seconds left, which was followed by Trinity Moore hitting another layup to give SFA a commanding 54-40 lead. However, Daylani Ballena made sure the Thunderbirds had the last say in scoring for the third as she would score her sixth and seventh points of the quarter off a jumper with 30 seconds left. However, SFA still held a 54-42 lead heading into the final quarter.

Mele Finau got the energy into the Sawmill crowd to begin the fourth as she saw her first action of the season and drained her first shot of the season, a three-pointer, to launch SFA ahead 57-42. Kyla Deck was able to feed off the energy as she would hit a jumper following Finau's triple and SFA held their largest lead of the day at 17, 59-42. Following a Samantha Johnston three-pointer with five minutes left to cut the SFA lead to 61-47, Kurstyn Harden showed off her superb free-throw shooting skills as she would drain four straight shots from the charity stripe to keep SFA comfortably ahead 65-47, which she would follow up with another layup to put her stamp on this one and give SFA a 20-point lead at 67-47. The two schools would exchange baskets over the final 90 seconds, with Alexandra Eldredge scoring the final points for both sides as she would hit a layup for the Thunderbirds to close out the game, with SFA coming away with a solid 68-53 home conference win.

A team effort in scoring helped propel the Ladyjacks to their second straight win, and ensure they continued their strong conference play. Kurstyn Harden led all Ladyjacks in scoring for the third consecutive game as she put together an impressive 21-point, 10-rebound performance to finish off her fourth double-double of the season. Zoe Nelson would not be outdone by Harden as she recorded her second straight double-double and fourth of the season with her solid 10-point, 10-rebound showing, while leading the defensive effort with three blocks on the afternoon. Tyler McCliment-Call did a little bit of everything for SFA today as she finished with eight points, leading all Ladyjacks with her pair of three-pointers, five rebounds, one block, and one steal. Meanwhile, Destini Lombard played selfless basketball today as she dished out a team-high five assists, while adding on four points, two rebounds, and a steal to her stats. Lydia Cooke-Wiggins continues her strong freshman season as she stuffed the stat sheet against the Thunderbirds finishing with eight points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal.

The Ladyjacks had another strong day of shooting against Southern Utah as they recorded their second straight game shooting over 45% from the field as a team, while throwing in five three-pointers as a team for good measure. Meanwhile, the Ladyjacks had another strong day of shooting from the free-throw line as they recorded their second consecutive game with a free-throw percentage over 75 percent, while also scoring over 30 points in the paint for a second straight contest. Thanks to 12 offensive rebounds for SFA, they were able to convert them into 14 second chance points, while they were able to turn four blocks and seven steals into a solid 20 points off turnovers.

The Ladyjacks will look to carry over their confidence from home into their next road game as they open up a four-game road trip when they travel to the west coast for a match against Seattle University on Thursday, January 18th with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CST.