Ladyjacks Fall to Lancers

Saturday, January 27

Riverside, CA

3:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

13-7,7-2WAC

California Baptist University

16-2,8-1WAC

SFA

California Baptist

1/27/2024 7:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team (13-7, 7-2) fell 97-75 to the California Baptist Lancers (16-2, 8-1) on Saturday afternoon.

The SFA Ladyjacks were looking to win their fifth straight game and cool off another red-hot WAC opponent in the CBU Lancers on the road, hoping to send CBU to their first home loss of the season. The Ladyjacks drew first blood in this one as Tyler McCliment-Call knocked down a jumper 90 seconds into the first and put SFA ahead 2-0 early. After a CBU three-pointer put them briefly ahead 3-2, Kurstyn Harden continued her strong shooting from the charity stripe as she knocked down a pair of free-throws to put SFA back ahead 4-3. However, CBU would start to find a groove on offense as they would go on a 7-0 scoring run thanks to five points from Filipa Barros to put CBU ahead 10-4 midway through the first. With less than three minutes remaining, Nhug Duran knocked down a pair of free-throws to put CBU ahead 12-5, however, it was all Ladyjacks the remaining two minutes. Trinity Moore would bank home a layup off a pass from Destini Lombard, and that helped spark a 9-0 scoring run for SFA as Kyla Deck and Mele Finau would hit consecutive triples to pull SFA ahead 13-12, before Destini Lombard would knock down a free-throw with twenty seconds left to close out the scoring for the first quarter and the 'Jacks found themselves leading 14-12 heading into the second.

Chloe Webb, the WAC leader in points per game, came out firing in the second quarter as she rattled off four straight points, before Kinsley Barrington would knock down a triple to cap off a 7-0 CBU scoring run to put them back ahead 19-14 early into the second. Kurstyn Harden would snap the scoring run for the Lancers as she would hit a pair of free-throws to pull SFA within three at 19-16. Khloe Lemon would knock down her second triple of the game for the Lancers and help spark another mini 6-0 scoring run for CBU to pit them to their largest lead of the afternoon to that point at 25-16. However, Kurstyn Harden refused to let SFA go down quietly as she took matters into her own hands and rattled off four consecutive points to pull SFA to within five at 25-20. After another Chloe Webb bucket extended the Lancers lead to 27-20, Kurstyn Harden and Trinity Moore would hit back-to-back shots to bring SFA to within three once again at 27-24. Chloe Webb would continue her outstanding quarter with a three-pointer to push CBU ahead 30-24, but Lydia Cooke-Wiggins had the answer to Webb as she knocked down a triple of her own to keep SFA close at 30-27. With 90 seconds remaining, Tyler McCliment-Call found her stride from downtown as she knocked down a triple and SFA only trailed 32-30 with less than 90 seconds left. However, CBU would answer with a three-pointer to keep the lead at five, 35-30, before McCliment-Call knocked down a pair of free-throws to keep SFA to within three points at 35-32 with under a minute remaining. Filipa Barros would close out the scoring for the second quarter as she knocked down the Lancers fifth triple of the quarter and give CBU a 38-32 lead as both teams headed into the locker rooms.

Kinsley Barrington opened up the scoring for both teams as she would make a layup 20 seconds into the second half and give CBU a 40-32 lead. However, Kurstyn Harden continued her dominant game with another layup, which was followed shortly by a Kyla Deck three-pointer and SFA once again trailed by only three at 40-37. With three minutes gone in the third, Zoe Nelson hit a jumper to keep SFA within striking distance at 43-39, however, the Lancers would find their groove as they would go on a 14-2 scoring run over the next two minutes and find themselves ahead by 16, 51-47. Zoe Nelson would make her second basket of the quarter with four minutes remaining to cut the deficit to 57-43, however, CBU would continue their outrageous quarter of shooting as they would end the quarter on a 15-3 scoring run thanks to eight points from Chloe Webb and headed into the fourth with a 72-46 lead.

Trinity Moore would open up the scoring in the fourth as she drove into the paint and drew a foul while making the basket, then completing the three-point play with the free-throw and SFA trailed 72-49 early. Khloe Lemon made back-to-back three-pointers for the Lancers, before Destini Lombard hit a pair of free-throws to snap Lemon's hot streak and CBU led 78-51. Trinity Moore would continue her strong quarter as she converted her second and-one play of the quarter before following that up with a layup and SFA found themselves trailing 78-56. After a Kyla Deck triple halfway through the quarter made the score 85-62, Avery VanSickle found her groove late as she recorded a steal, and took it coast-to-coast for the layup, before hitting back-to-back three-pointers to bring the deficit down to 87-70. Kyla Deck would bank home a fast break layup shortly after the second VanSickle three-pointer, as SFA would not go down without a fight as they found themselves trailing 87-72 with just under three minutes remaining. However, CBU would put the game out of reach for SFA with a 6-0 scoring run to go ahead 92-72. Lydia Cooke-Wiggins would close out the scoring for SFA with a free-throw to give SFA a solid 75 points for the afternoon, however, it would not be enough to overcome the Lancers unbelievable day of shooting as SFA would fall 97-75 on the road.

Kyla Deck stuffed the stat sheet against the Lancers as she led the Ladyjacks with 14 points, while making a team-high three triples, dished out a team-leading four assists, recorded a team-high four steals, and pulled down three rebounds. Kurstyn Harden continued her near perfect shooting from the free-throw line for the season, as she went a perfect 8/8 from the charity stripe and finished with 12 points and four rebounds. As part of her 12-point effort, Harden surpassed the 1,000-career point milestone for her collegiate career. Trinity Moore did a little bit of everything for SFA today as she had 12 points, shot 50% from the field, while pulling down five rebounds and recording a team-high two blocks. Zoe Nelson, Tyler McCliment-Call, and Destini Lombard all tied for the team lead in rebounds with six apiece, while also combining for 18 points, six assists, and four steals between the three players. Lydia Cooke-Wiggins and Avery VanSickle formed a dynamic duo for SFA as they combined for 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 30 combined minutes of playtime.

The Ladyjacks drained eight three-pointers today, while experiencing a strong day shooting from the free-throw line as they made 23 free-throws and shot over 76% from the charity stripe. Four of five Ladyjack starters finished with at least one assist today as they dished out 16 total assists as a team while pulling down 40 rebounds as a team. The Ladyjack defense recorded their third straight game with 12 steals as a group and were able to convert those 12 steals along with three blocks into 22 points off turnovers.

The Ladyjacks will return home before hitting the road on Thursday, February 1st to close out their four-game road trip when they travel to Utah for a date with the Utah Valley Wolverines with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CST.