Thursday, January 25
Phoenix, AZ
7:00 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
at
Grand Canyon University
Ladyjacks Set for Two Pivotal Road Games
1/24/2024 8:30:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Stephen F. Austin vs. Grand Canyon University
Date: Thursday, January 25th
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Stadium: Global Credit Union Arena at GCU
Series: SFA Leads 3-1
PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Basketball Team (12-6, 5-1) continues their four-game road trip as they will hit the road for a pair of crucial conference games that starts when they travel to Arizona to lock horns with WAC rival Grand Canyon University (16-3, 8-0) on Thursday evening.
Ladyjacks at a Glance:
Stephen F. Austin carries a three-game winning streak with them into Phoenix looking to continue their dominant start in conference play. During the course of their current three-game win streak, the Ladyjacks have won by nine or more points in each game while flashing their top-three scoring defense as they allowed fewer than 67 points in each game. The Ladyjacks come into GCU on the heels of two dominant conference wins as they defeated Southern Utah 68-53, before winning their most recent match over Seattle 82-66 on the road. In the win over the Redhawks, the 'Jacks led Seattle in rebounds (40-33), assists (23-15), steals (12-7), field goal percentage (50.8-36.7), points in the paint (50-26), points off turnovers (15-7), second chance points (11-5), fast break points (18-7), and bench points (29-6). On the season, SFA carries a 12-6 overall record, a 6-1 conference record, and a 4-3 away record.
Two-time WAC Player of the Week Kurstyn Harden continues to impose her will on opposing defenses as she led the scoring effort for the fourth consecutive game with her team-leading 20 points against Seattle, while recording five rebounds, two assists, and one block as well. Zoe Nelson continued her strong stretch of conference play as she finished second on the team with 14 points, while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Tyler McCliment-Call and Kyla Deck were defensive juggernauts against the Redhawks as they recorded four steals apiece for eight in total, they also stuffed the stat sheet from an offensive standpoint. Deck, with her four steals, finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and dished out a team-high five assists, while McCliment-Call recorded five points, two rebounds, and three assists in addition to her four steals. Mele Finau continues her strong return to action as she played 19 minutes and drilled a pair of three-pointers to lead SFA in that category in route to a well-balanced eight-point, four-rebound, four-assist performance. SFA's 50 points in the paint against Seattle tied their second highest total in that category for a single game this season, when they also tallied 50 points in the paint against UNT-Dallas.
Kurstyn Harden leads the team with 16.4 points/game this season, which ranks her second overall in the WAC, while recording the second most rebounds on the team with 129 for an average of 7.2 game, and draining a WAC-leading 90 free-throws, and shooting at 82.6% clip from the charity stripe, which is the second highest mark in the WAC. Kyla Deck has teamed up to form a dynamic offensive duo with Harden as she ranks second on the team with 11.7 points/game, while dishing out the second most assists on the team with 52. Destini Lombard rounds out the top three scorers for SFA with her 10.1 points/game, while creating numerous scoring opportunities with her team-leading 77 assists, which is the most by any WAC player this season. Tyler McCliment-Call has been the threat from downtown for the 'Jacks with her team-high 33 triples, while Zoe Nelson has pulled down a team-leading 132 rebounds this season.
SFA currently ranks second in the WAC in steals and that is due to strong contributions from both Destini Lombard and Kyla Deck in that category. Deck and Lombard have been ball hawks this season as Lombard has recorded 41 steals on the season for an average of 2.27/game, while Deck has tallied 43 steals which has her tied for 43rd in the nation, while her 2.87 steals/game ranks her 18th in the nation. Lombard not only leads the team in assists, she also takes great care of the ball as she currently sports a 2.48 assist/turnover ratio, which ranks her 28th in the nation. As a team, SFA averages 10.8 steals/game, good for 32nd best in the nation and ranks them above a list of schools that includes Auburn, Texas, Penn State, and Ohio State.
Lopes at a Glance:
The Grand Canyon University Lopes continue their three-game home stand as they get set to host the SFA Ladyjacks. GCU is as hot as any team in the nation as they have won eight straight games, five of which were home wins, and currently have the 10th-longest active win streak in the nation. On the season, GCU has been a dominant force at home as they hold a 9-2 record at home and have won their last eight games at Global Credit Union Arena, winning seven of those eight games by double-digit points. Their most recent win kicked off their three-game home stand, in which the Lopes overcame a slow start to rally and defeat Seattle University 84-73 in double overtime. In their win over the Redhawks, the Lopes led the Redhawks in rebounds (42-40), assists (16-15), blocks (3-1), steals (15-5), points off turnovers (34-9), fast break points (16-4), and bench points (19-17).
Naudia Evans was a workhorse for the Lopes against Seattle as she played 45 minutes, scoring a team-leading 21 points, making a team-high four three-pointers, and recording three steals, second most on the team. Jada Holland did a little bit of everything for GCU as she finished with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals in 39 minutes, recording her fifth straight game with five or more assists. Olivia Lane finished off the top three scorers for the Lopes as she recorded 16 points, thanks to 10 free-throws, five assists, two steals, and one assist. Trinity San Antonio and Tiarra Brown formed a dynamic duo against Seattle as they combined for 15 rebounds, 16 points, one assist, five steals, and one block.
The GCU offense is a well-balanced group that gets production from every player in the lineup as four different players have made over 55 field goals this season. Trinity San Antonio is the leader of the bunch with her 11.8 points/game and leads the team with 32 steals and 55 assists. Naudia Evans has formed a nice compliment to San Antonio with her 11.3 points/game as she has drained a team-high 39 triples this season, while ranking just behind San Antonio in steals and assists, as Evans has 54 assists and 27 steals on the season. Olivia Lane has pulled down the most rebounds on the team with 112 for an average of 5.9 rebounds/game and has made a team-high 45 free-throws on the season, while Tiarra Brown leads the Lopes in blocks with 14 in addition to her 21 steals.
Series: Thursday will mark the fifth meeting between these two top programs as SFA has claimed three of the first four meetings between the two schools. In the most recent game, SFA defended their home court with a 79-66 win over GCU last season. This match-up will feature plenty of offensive fireworks as both school's rank in the top five in the WAC for offense. GCU holds the fifth ranked scoring offense in the WAC, recording the most rebounds in the WAC, and recording the highest field goal and three-point percentage for any WAC school, while having the third-most assists. SFA will counter GCU's efficient and effective offense with their own second ranked offense in the WAC, while recording the third highest field goal percentage, pulling down the third-most rebounds in the WAC, and dishing out the second most assists.
Date: Thursday, January 25th
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Stadium: Global Credit Union Arena at GCU
Series: SFA Leads 3-1
PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Basketball Team (12-6, 5-1) continues their four-game road trip as they will hit the road for a pair of crucial conference games that starts when they travel to Arizona to lock horns with WAC rival Grand Canyon University (16-3, 8-0) on Thursday evening.
Ladyjacks at a Glance:
Stephen F. Austin carries a three-game winning streak with them into Phoenix looking to continue their dominant start in conference play. During the course of their current three-game win streak, the Ladyjacks have won by nine or more points in each game while flashing their top-three scoring defense as they allowed fewer than 67 points in each game. The Ladyjacks come into GCU on the heels of two dominant conference wins as they defeated Southern Utah 68-53, before winning their most recent match over Seattle 82-66 on the road. In the win over the Redhawks, the 'Jacks led Seattle in rebounds (40-33), assists (23-15), steals (12-7), field goal percentage (50.8-36.7), points in the paint (50-26), points off turnovers (15-7), second chance points (11-5), fast break points (18-7), and bench points (29-6). On the season, SFA carries a 12-6 overall record, a 6-1 conference record, and a 4-3 away record.
Two-time WAC Player of the Week Kurstyn Harden continues to impose her will on opposing defenses as she led the scoring effort for the fourth consecutive game with her team-leading 20 points against Seattle, while recording five rebounds, two assists, and one block as well. Zoe Nelson continued her strong stretch of conference play as she finished second on the team with 14 points, while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Tyler McCliment-Call and Kyla Deck were defensive juggernauts against the Redhawks as they recorded four steals apiece for eight in total, they also stuffed the stat sheet from an offensive standpoint. Deck, with her four steals, finished with 13 points, five rebounds, and dished out a team-high five assists, while McCliment-Call recorded five points, two rebounds, and three assists in addition to her four steals. Mele Finau continues her strong return to action as she played 19 minutes and drilled a pair of three-pointers to lead SFA in that category in route to a well-balanced eight-point, four-rebound, four-assist performance. SFA's 50 points in the paint against Seattle tied their second highest total in that category for a single game this season, when they also tallied 50 points in the paint against UNT-Dallas.
Kurstyn Harden leads the team with 16.4 points/game this season, which ranks her second overall in the WAC, while recording the second most rebounds on the team with 129 for an average of 7.2 game, and draining a WAC-leading 90 free-throws, and shooting at 82.6% clip from the charity stripe, which is the second highest mark in the WAC. Kyla Deck has teamed up to form a dynamic offensive duo with Harden as she ranks second on the team with 11.7 points/game, while dishing out the second most assists on the team with 52. Destini Lombard rounds out the top three scorers for SFA with her 10.1 points/game, while creating numerous scoring opportunities with her team-leading 77 assists, which is the most by any WAC player this season. Tyler McCliment-Call has been the threat from downtown for the 'Jacks with her team-high 33 triples, while Zoe Nelson has pulled down a team-leading 132 rebounds this season.
SFA currently ranks second in the WAC in steals and that is due to strong contributions from both Destini Lombard and Kyla Deck in that category. Deck and Lombard have been ball hawks this season as Lombard has recorded 41 steals on the season for an average of 2.27/game, while Deck has tallied 43 steals which has her tied for 43rd in the nation, while her 2.87 steals/game ranks her 18th in the nation. Lombard not only leads the team in assists, she also takes great care of the ball as she currently sports a 2.48 assist/turnover ratio, which ranks her 28th in the nation. As a team, SFA averages 10.8 steals/game, good for 32nd best in the nation and ranks them above a list of schools that includes Auburn, Texas, Penn State, and Ohio State.
Lopes at a Glance:
The Grand Canyon University Lopes continue their three-game home stand as they get set to host the SFA Ladyjacks. GCU is as hot as any team in the nation as they have won eight straight games, five of which were home wins, and currently have the 10th-longest active win streak in the nation. On the season, GCU has been a dominant force at home as they hold a 9-2 record at home and have won their last eight games at Global Credit Union Arena, winning seven of those eight games by double-digit points. Their most recent win kicked off their three-game home stand, in which the Lopes overcame a slow start to rally and defeat Seattle University 84-73 in double overtime. In their win over the Redhawks, the Lopes led the Redhawks in rebounds (42-40), assists (16-15), blocks (3-1), steals (15-5), points off turnovers (34-9), fast break points (16-4), and bench points (19-17).
Naudia Evans was a workhorse for the Lopes against Seattle as she played 45 minutes, scoring a team-leading 21 points, making a team-high four three-pointers, and recording three steals, second most on the team. Jada Holland did a little bit of everything for GCU as she finished with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals in 39 minutes, recording her fifth straight game with five or more assists. Olivia Lane finished off the top three scorers for the Lopes as she recorded 16 points, thanks to 10 free-throws, five assists, two steals, and one assist. Trinity San Antonio and Tiarra Brown formed a dynamic duo against Seattle as they combined for 15 rebounds, 16 points, one assist, five steals, and one block.
The GCU offense is a well-balanced group that gets production from every player in the lineup as four different players have made over 55 field goals this season. Trinity San Antonio is the leader of the bunch with her 11.8 points/game and leads the team with 32 steals and 55 assists. Naudia Evans has formed a nice compliment to San Antonio with her 11.3 points/game as she has drained a team-high 39 triples this season, while ranking just behind San Antonio in steals and assists, as Evans has 54 assists and 27 steals on the season. Olivia Lane has pulled down the most rebounds on the team with 112 for an average of 5.9 rebounds/game and has made a team-high 45 free-throws on the season, while Tiarra Brown leads the Lopes in blocks with 14 in addition to her 21 steals.
Series: Thursday will mark the fifth meeting between these two top programs as SFA has claimed three of the first four meetings between the two schools. In the most recent game, SFA defended their home court with a 79-66 win over GCU last season. This match-up will feature plenty of offensive fireworks as both school's rank in the top five in the WAC for offense. GCU holds the fifth ranked scoring offense in the WAC, recording the most rebounds in the WAC, and recording the highest field goal and three-point percentage for any WAC school, while having the third-most assists. SFA will counter GCU's efficient and effective offense with their own second ranked offense in the WAC, while recording the third highest field goal percentage, pulling down the third-most rebounds in the WAC, and dishing out the second most assists.
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