Ladyjacks Tame Wolverines in Bounce-Back Win

Thursday, February 1

Orem, UT

7:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

14-7,8-2WAC

Utah Valley University

8-11,3-7WAC

SFA

Utah Valley

Ladyjacks Tame Wolverines in Bounce-Back Win

2/1/2024 10:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

OREM, Utah. - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team (14-7, 8-2) took the lead late in the first quarter and never looked back as they led for over 35 minutes of the game and coasted to a 72-63 win over the Utah Valley Wolverines (8-11, 3-7) to close out their four-game road trip on a high note.

SFA came into tonight looking to record their 14th regular season win and eighth conference win of the season as they got set for a midweek evening match-up with the Utah Valley Wolverines. While the Wolverines got the scoring started tonight as Kylee Mabry would knock down a free-throw, SFA would score their first points of the night thanks to a layup from Kurstyn Harden, which Harden followed up with another layup of her own and SFA quickly found themselves ahead 4-1 just two minutes into the first. The two schools exchanged free-throws over their next two possessions, which would be followed by Eleyana Tafisi knocking down a triple for the Wolverines to put them ahead 6-5 three minutes into the first. However, freshman Lydia Cooke-Wiggins had an answer for Utah Valley as she would drain the 'Jacks first triple of the night to give SFA an 8-6 lead, which was short lived as Utah Valley responded with a basket of their own to tie the game at eight apiece. The two schools exchanged baskets over their next few possessions, but the Wolverines still held a slim 12-10 lead. However, Avery VanSickle got into the three-point shooting as she would knock down her first triple of the game to give SFA the lead right back at a slight 13-12 advantage. After the two schools exchanged a pair of free-throws, Tyler McCliment-Call found her groove for SFA late in the first as she would score the final five points of the quarter for SFA, including draining SFA's third triple of the quarter, but the Wolverines had an answer for almost every point scored by McCliment-Call and SFA found themselves with a slim 20-19 lead after the first.

Avery VanSickle gained some inspiration from McCliment-Call's strong end to the first, as she would score the Ladyjacks first five points of the second thanks to a strong layup where she fought through contact to lay one in, before splashing her second three-pointer of the game and SFA led 25-19 three minutes into the second. VanSickle's scoring spree would help spark a 12-0 scoring run for SFA to begin the second as Lydia Cooke-Wiggins and Zoe Nelson would both hit jumpers for SFA, and Mele Finau continued her efficient shooting from beyond the arc with SFA's third three-pointer of the game to stake SFA to a commanding 32-19 lead halfway into the second. The Wolverines, however, would put an abrupt end to the SFA scoring run as they would go on a 5-0 scoring run to cut the SFA lead down to eight points at 32-24. The Ladyjacks would get last say in scoring for the first half as Ituau Tuisaula would knock down a free-throw, and Avery VanSickle capped off her dominant quarter with a buzzer beater jumper to give SFA a double-digit 35-24 lead as both teams headed into the locker rooms.

Destini Lombard would not be outdone by her fellow teammates Tyler McCliment-Call and Avery VanSickle, as Lombard would rattle off the first four SFA points of the second half thanks to consecutive jumpers and extend SFA's lead to 39-24 early into the second half. Kurstyn Harden continued her dominance from the free-throw line as she would knock down a pair of free-throws to push SFA over 40 points for the evening and extend their lead to 17 at 41-24. Back-to-back baskets for the Wolverines closed the SFA lead down to 13, but Avery VanSickle continued to show off her effortless range as she would drain her third three-pointer of the game to keep SFA with a commanding 44-28 lead. Almost immediately after her third triple, VanSickle record a steal on the defensive end and while she would miss a three-pointer on the next possession, she followed her shot and was able to snag her own rebound and immediately bank it home to finish off an astounding play where she recorded a steal, rebound, and basket all in the same possession. Kurstyn Harden continued the SFA pressure offensively as she was able to get into the paint, draw a foul, and finish through contact to make the basket and the ensuing free-throw to cap off the and-one play and push SFA even farther ahead at 49-28. The two schools exchanged points fairly evenly over the final three minutes, but Utah Valley would get last say in scoring for the third as Eleyana Tafisi would knock down a pull-up jumper with 15 seconds remaining to close out scoring for the third, however, SFA still found themselves comfortably in command as they led by 17, 54-37, heading into the fourth.

Lydia Cooke-Wiggins continued the Ladyjacks strong day in the paint as she would drive into the paint and draw contact, getting the shot to fall, and draining the ensuing free-throw to finish off her and-one play and regain SFA's 20-point lead at 57-37 just one minute into the fourth. However, Utah Valley looking to extend their winning streak to three games and defend their homecourt would not go down easily as they would spark a 10-0 scoring run thanks to a pair of triples from Jenna Dick and quickly found themselves only trailing by 10 points, 57-47. Destini Lombard would stall the Wolverines scoring as she would continue the strong three-point shooting for SFA with a triple of her own, which was followed by another Kurstyn Harden bucket in the paint and SFA retained their double-digit lead as it quickly grew back to 15 points at 62-47 midway through the fourth. The two schools continued to exchange points over the next two minutes, but Kurstyn Harden continued to terrorize the Wolverines down low as she would complete another and-one play for SFA with just under three minutes remaining and keep SFA at a steady 16-point lead with them leading 67-51. Approaching the two-minute mark, Jenna Dick refused to go down easy for Utah Valley as she continued her absurd fourth quarter by draining her third and fourth three-pointers of the quarter to help spark a 8-1 scoring run for Utah Valley and keep the game interesting at 69-61 with 45 seconds remaining. However, SFA would get some clutch free-throws down the stretch as Tyler McCliment-Call and Destini Lombard would make three consecutive free-throws for the Ladyjacks to offset a Wolverine layup to seal their 14th win, and eighth conference win of the season with an important 72-63 bounce-back victory over the Wolverines.

Avery VanSickle made her presence felt all over the court tonight as she led the team by tying her career-high in points with 15 to lead all Ladyjacks, while draining a team-high three triples, and pitched in three rebounds, two assists, and one steal for the 'Jacks. VanSickle was one of four Ladyjacks to score in double figures against the Wolverines as she was followed closely behind by Kurstyn Harden who recorded 14 points, and fell just short of a double-double as she grabbed nine rebounds and continued her flawless free-throw shooting on the season by going a perfect 4/4 from the charity stripe. Harden has now recorded double-digit points in eight of her last nine games, as she continues to be a key factor in the Ladyjacks offense. Lydia Cooke-Wiggins helped power the SFA offense in multiple ways tonight as she scored 12 points and tied for the team lead in assists with three. Destini Lombard was just as equally efficient as Cooke-Wiggins as she rounded out the top four scorers for SFA with her 11 points, as she also shot 50% from the field and led the defensive effort with her three steals. Zoe Nelson continues to be a rebound machine for SFA this season as she finished with 12 rebounds tonight to lead all Ladyjacks while also adding on four points, two assists, and two blocks to her evening. Nelson recorded her seventh double-digit rebound performance of the season, which places her alone at the top of the WAC for most games with double-digit rebounds this season. Tyler McCliment-Call stuffed the stat sheet for the Ladyjacks tonight as she finished with six points, two rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal to post a strong all-around performance.

The Ladyjacks formed a three-headed monster shooting tonight as they were highly successful in all three areas of offense tonight. The Ladyjacks shot a strong 41% from the field tonight as seven different players recorded at least one basket tonight, while shooting an even more impressive 41% from downtown as they trained seven triples as a team and polished the shooting trifecta by making 19 free-throws and shooting 76% from the free-throw line. The Ladyjacks have now shot over 75% percent from the charity stripe in five of their last six games. As impressive as the Ladyjack offense was tonight, the defense might have been even more dominant as they recorded a season-high seven blocks and added in another seven steals as a team to record their fifth straight game with double-digit turnovers on defense. The Ladyjacks converted their 14 turnovers into 14 points off turnovers and made superb use of their 15 offensive rebounds as they turned them into 18 second chance points. SFA recorded 28 points in the paint led by Kurstyn Harden and got great production from their bench as they recorded 25 bench points against the Wolverines.

The Ladyjacks will have a short turnaround before their next game as they return home and get set to play host to Tarleton State on Saturday, February 3rd with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CST at the Sawmill.