Saturday, March 2
Nacogdoches, TX
2:00 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin
vs
Grand Canyon University
Ladyjacks Get Set to Lock Horns with Lopes
3/1/2024 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Stephen F. Austin vs. Grand Canyon University
Date: Saturday, March 2nd
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Stadium: William R. Johnson Coliseum
Series: SFA Leads 4-1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas. - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Basketball Team (18-9, 12-4) looks to put their Thursday night loss behind them as they get set for a quick turnaround when they close out their home schedule for the season by hosting the Grand Canyon University Lopes (24-5, 16-2) in a critical game for SFA on senior day at the Sawmill.
Ladyjacks at a Glance:
The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks will look to put their latest loss to the CBU Lancers behind them as they get set for another critical home match with visiting Grand Canyon. The Ladyjacks will be playing their last home game of the season, and will be celebrating senior day on Saturday where SFA will honor two graduating seniors in Mele Finau and Kurstyn Harden pregame. The Ladyjacks put up a valiant effort in their last game against the visiting CBU Lancers but fell just short of a second half comeback win falling 100-96 in overtime to the Lancers. Despite the loss, SFA led the Lancers in rebounds (51-41), assists (19-17), blocks (5-1), three-pointers (13-11), points off turnovers (26-15), and bench points (22-19).
Kurstyn Harden has continued her dominating senior season that has placed her in conversation for WAC Player of the Year. Harden scored a new career-high 29 points against the Lancers to easily lead all Ladyjacks, making a career-high 11 field goals, and pulling down nine rebounds to round out her dominant performance. Destini Lombard formed a nice compliment to Harden's low-post scoring, as Lombard drained a team-high four three-pointers in route to an 18-point, nine-rebound performance, while leading the defensive effort once again with another four steals. Kyla Deck scored from all over the court against the Lancers as she posted 14 points, making two three-pointers, while pulling down seven rebounds and recording two steals defensively. Meanwhile, Avery VanSickle, Lydia Cooke-Wiggins, and Tyler McCliment-Call all made at least two three-pointers, recorded three rebounds, while all three had at least one assist.
The Ladyjacks recorded double-digit three-pointers for the second straight game as they drained 13 triples and have made 24 three-pointers between their last two games. The Ladyjacks were able to rally from multiple double-digit point deficits as they shot over 50% from the field in the second half, while pulling down their second highest rebound total of the season as they crashed the boards all game long to record 51 rebounds, which included double-digit offensive rebounds for the third straight game.
Destini Lombard continues to be a menace defensively as she recorded another four steals against the Lancers and has risen all the way to 24th in the national rankings in steals as she has recorded 72 on the season. Kyla Deck has formed a menacing defensive duo with Lombard as she ranks inside the top-50 in the nation in steals as well as she has 64 on the campaign. Deck and Lombard rank 20th and 31st in the nation in steals per game respectively with Deck averaging 2.78 steals/game, and Lombard averaging 2.57/game. Lombard is just as good at finding the open shooter as she is taking the ball away as she also ranks 31st in the nation in assist/turnover ratio with a 2.31 ratio this season. Kurstyn Harden's career year continues as coming off her career-best 29 point performance against the CBU Lancers, she has risen to 24th in the nation in field goal percentage as she shoots a healthy 56.57% from the floor for SFA.
Lopes at a Glance:
The Grand Canyon University Lopes come to Nacogdoches carrying a three-game win streak of their own with their visit to the Sawmill being their last road contest of the season. In their most recent game, the Lopes defeated the UTRGV Vaqueros 66-40 on Thursday evening to maintain their chokehold on first place in the WAC, sporting a 24-5 overall record and a 16-2 conference record. The road win over UTRGV tied the single season record for most road wins in a season (11) in school history.
The Erikstrup twins terrorized the Vaqueros defense on Thursday as the siblings combined for 35 points against the Vaqueros. Laura Erikstrup led all Lopes with a game-high 22 points on 10-14 shooting, while her sister Sydney was the only other GCU player to finish in double figures as she had 13 points and made a team-high three three-pointers against UTRGV. Jada Holland and Trinity San Antonio formed a nice complimentary duo to the Erikstrup twins as they combined for 12 points, four rebounds, 15 assists, and four steals against the Vaqueros with Jada Holland leading the charge with nine assists.
Trinity San Antonio leads the Lopes in scoring average for the season as she averages 11.4 points/game, however, GCU plays a very unselfish offense as no other player averages double-digit points/game for the Lopes. Naudia Evans is GCU's deep shooting threat as she has drained 52 triples on the season, while Olivia Lane has pulled down a team-high 185 rebounds this season and made 77 free-throws. Defensively, San Antonio leads the charge with her 58 steals this season, while Tiarra Brown leads the team with her 25 blocked shots.
Series: Saturday's matinee match-up will feature the sixth time these two heavyweight schools square off with each other as SFA has claimed four of the first five meetings between the two programs. In their most recent meeting earlier this season, SFA traveled to Phoenix and upset the Lopes on their homecourt as the Ladyjacks defense stymied the Lopes to help SFA secure a 59-54 road win over GCU.
Date: Saturday, March 2nd
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Stadium: William R. Johnson Coliseum
Series: SFA Leads 4-1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas. - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Basketball Team (18-9, 12-4) looks to put their Thursday night loss behind them as they get set for a quick turnaround when they close out their home schedule for the season by hosting the Grand Canyon University Lopes (24-5, 16-2) in a critical game for SFA on senior day at the Sawmill.
Ladyjacks at a Glance:
The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks will look to put their latest loss to the CBU Lancers behind them as they get set for another critical home match with visiting Grand Canyon. The Ladyjacks will be playing their last home game of the season, and will be celebrating senior day on Saturday where SFA will honor two graduating seniors in Mele Finau and Kurstyn Harden pregame. The Ladyjacks put up a valiant effort in their last game against the visiting CBU Lancers but fell just short of a second half comeback win falling 100-96 in overtime to the Lancers. Despite the loss, SFA led the Lancers in rebounds (51-41), assists (19-17), blocks (5-1), three-pointers (13-11), points off turnovers (26-15), and bench points (22-19).
Kurstyn Harden has continued her dominating senior season that has placed her in conversation for WAC Player of the Year. Harden scored a new career-high 29 points against the Lancers to easily lead all Ladyjacks, making a career-high 11 field goals, and pulling down nine rebounds to round out her dominant performance. Destini Lombard formed a nice compliment to Harden's low-post scoring, as Lombard drained a team-high four three-pointers in route to an 18-point, nine-rebound performance, while leading the defensive effort once again with another four steals. Kyla Deck scored from all over the court against the Lancers as she posted 14 points, making two three-pointers, while pulling down seven rebounds and recording two steals defensively. Meanwhile, Avery VanSickle, Lydia Cooke-Wiggins, and Tyler McCliment-Call all made at least two three-pointers, recorded three rebounds, while all three had at least one assist.
The Ladyjacks recorded double-digit three-pointers for the second straight game as they drained 13 triples and have made 24 three-pointers between their last two games. The Ladyjacks were able to rally from multiple double-digit point deficits as they shot over 50% from the field in the second half, while pulling down their second highest rebound total of the season as they crashed the boards all game long to record 51 rebounds, which included double-digit offensive rebounds for the third straight game.
Destini Lombard continues to be a menace defensively as she recorded another four steals against the Lancers and has risen all the way to 24th in the national rankings in steals as she has recorded 72 on the season. Kyla Deck has formed a menacing defensive duo with Lombard as she ranks inside the top-50 in the nation in steals as well as she has 64 on the campaign. Deck and Lombard rank 20th and 31st in the nation in steals per game respectively with Deck averaging 2.78 steals/game, and Lombard averaging 2.57/game. Lombard is just as good at finding the open shooter as she is taking the ball away as she also ranks 31st in the nation in assist/turnover ratio with a 2.31 ratio this season. Kurstyn Harden's career year continues as coming off her career-best 29 point performance against the CBU Lancers, she has risen to 24th in the nation in field goal percentage as she shoots a healthy 56.57% from the floor for SFA.
Lopes at a Glance:
The Grand Canyon University Lopes come to Nacogdoches carrying a three-game win streak of their own with their visit to the Sawmill being their last road contest of the season. In their most recent game, the Lopes defeated the UTRGV Vaqueros 66-40 on Thursday evening to maintain their chokehold on first place in the WAC, sporting a 24-5 overall record and a 16-2 conference record. The road win over UTRGV tied the single season record for most road wins in a season (11) in school history.
The Erikstrup twins terrorized the Vaqueros defense on Thursday as the siblings combined for 35 points against the Vaqueros. Laura Erikstrup led all Lopes with a game-high 22 points on 10-14 shooting, while her sister Sydney was the only other GCU player to finish in double figures as she had 13 points and made a team-high three three-pointers against UTRGV. Jada Holland and Trinity San Antonio formed a nice complimentary duo to the Erikstrup twins as they combined for 12 points, four rebounds, 15 assists, and four steals against the Vaqueros with Jada Holland leading the charge with nine assists.
Trinity San Antonio leads the Lopes in scoring average for the season as she averages 11.4 points/game, however, GCU plays a very unselfish offense as no other player averages double-digit points/game for the Lopes. Naudia Evans is GCU's deep shooting threat as she has drained 52 triples on the season, while Olivia Lane has pulled down a team-high 185 rebounds this season and made 77 free-throws. Defensively, San Antonio leads the charge with her 58 steals this season, while Tiarra Brown leads the team with her 25 blocked shots.
Series: Saturday's matinee match-up will feature the sixth time these two heavyweight schools square off with each other as SFA has claimed four of the first five meetings between the two programs. In their most recent meeting earlier this season, SFA traveled to Phoenix and upset the Lopes on their homecourt as the Ladyjacks defense stymied the Lopes to help SFA secure a 59-54 road win over GCU.
Players Mentioned
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