Five Southland Teams Undefeated After Opening Weekend
After the first weekend of play five Southland teams have stayed out of the loss column with strong opening performances.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi leads the league with a 2-0 record. The Islanders posted wins over Mountain West opponent Air Force (65-46) and won their first game against an SEC team in an overtime thriller against Alabama (96-90). Junior guard Jade Davis scored 29 points in the title game against the Tide and was named the tournament MVP of the Holiday Inn Emerald Beach Tip-Off Tournament.
Other undefeated teams include Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin, UT Arlington and Texas State. Each stand at 1-0.
The Lady Demons had four players score in double figures as Northwestern improved its home court season opening record to 14-2 all time with an 85-61 win over Arkansas-Monticello. It was the Lady Demon's 20th win at home in the last 21 games dating back to the 2007-08 season.
Stephen F. Austin hosted former Southland member North Texas and routed the not so Mean Green, 81-51. The Ladyjacks took advantage of 29 UNT turnovers, converting the mistakes to 27 points. Junior forward Jordan Ford scored her first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Despite a Mean Green size advantage, the Ladyjacks outscored UNT, 32-20, in the paint.
UT Arlington opened its season with a dominating performance as the Mavs crushed Rice, 81-64 at Texas Hall Friday. The Mavs out rebounded the taller Owls (51-39) and collected 18 offensive rebounds in the 17-point route. Junior guard Tamara Simmons was one of four players to finish in double figure scoring with 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting to go along with three rebounds, four assists and one steal in 35 minutes of action. Junior forward Shalyn Martin finished with a double-double, 13 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
Texas State was the only Southland team to score in triple digits as the Bobcats lit up the visiting Texas College, 100-42. The Bobcats finished the night shooting 50 percent from the field (39-for-77), along with a 14-for-16 effort from three-point range to tie a school single-game record for most three-pointers made. Sophomore guard Kelsey Krupa led Texas State with a career-high16 points, while four others finished in double figures.
Notable Performances
Central Arkansas freshman Megan Herbert began her collegiate career with back-to-back double-doubles as the Sugar Bears opened the season at Belmont and Lipscomb last weekend. In her first career game, the native from Rogers, Ark., had 11 points, 10 rebounds and led the team with three steals. On Sunday at Lipscomb, she followed that up with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Northwestern State senior Lyndzee Greene came off the bench to lead the Lady Demons with 15 points and eight rebounds. She was one point shy of tying her career high while she did tie her career high in rebounds. She connected on 5 of 12 from the field including 2 of 4 from long range as the Lady Demons opened the season with a commanding win over the Division II NCAA participant from a year ago.
Stephen F. Austin junior forward Jordan Ford scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks to an 81-51 rout over North Texas Saturday in the season opener at Johnson Coliseum.
UT Arlington junior guard Tamara Simmons was one of four players to finish in double figures in Friday's 81-64 victory against Rice. Simmons recorded 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor to go along with three rebounds, four assists and one steal in 35 minutes of action.
UTSA junior Ashleigh Franklin collected back-to-back double-doubles at No. 12 Texas and Schreiner over the weekend. In Franklin's first career start, the Dallas native posted her first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the 71-60 loss at No. 12 Texas last Friday night. She then followed that outing with her second straight double-double of 13 points and 11 boards in the win against Schreiner on Sunday. Franklin is averaging a double-double with 11.5 points and 11.5 rebounds this season.
Texas State senior Aimee Hilburn was one of five Bobcats to finish in double-figures Friday night in Texas State's 100-42 win over Texas College. She recorded 13 points and went 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range. Hilburn's trio of three pointers helped Texas State tie a Bobcat single game record for most three-pointers made in a game (14).
Stephen F. Austin Picked to Win Southland
Stephen F. Austin received nine first-place votes in the coaches' poll and 10 in the sports information directors' poll to be picked the Southland Conference's preseason favorite.
The Ladyjacks return all five starters including 2008-09 first-team all-conference selection, Whitney Cormier, from a squad which finished second in the East Division and had 10 conference wins. SFA received 63 points in the coaches' poll and 65 in the SID poll to out-distance West Division front-runner Lamar, which received six first-place votes. The Lady Cardinals received 59 points in the coaches' poll and five first-place votes and 56 points from the SID poll.
Behind SFA in the East Division, Southeastern Louisiana received 52 points in both the coaches' and SID polls with three first-place votes. UT Arlington, the defending regular season champion, rounds out the top four teams in the preseason polls. The Mavs received 53 points and three first-place votes in the coaches' poll and tied Lamar in first-place votes with five but fell one point shy of the Lady Cardinals, receiving 55 points.
Six All-Conference Honorees Return
Six players from last season's All-Southland Conference teams return for the 2009-10 season including Stephen F. Austin senior guard Whitney Cormier, as the league's only first-team returning player. Other preseason first-team honorees are Lamar senior forward Brittney Williams, a 2008-09 second-team all-conference selection. Lamar senior forward Darika Hill, UT Arlington junior guard Tamara Simmons and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi junior guard Jade Davis each received third-team all-conference honors in 2008-09 and round out the preseason first-team selections. UT Arlington junior guard Shalyn Martin, a 2008-09 third-team all-conference selection, returns as a preseason second-team member.
Rounding out the 2009-10 preseason team selections are UTSA junior guard Amber Gregg, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi senior center Elisa Beagle, Lamar junior guard Jenna Plumley and Texas State senior guard Victoria Davis. Lamar leads all Southland teams with three preseason selections including two first-team members. UT Arlington and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi each have two and Stephen F. Austin, UTSA and Texas State all had one each. Returning players who were named All-Southland Conference following the 2008-09 season were automatically placed on the 2009-10 preseason teams. Open positions were filled by nomination and vote of the league's head coaches.
Lamar Leads Southland With Three Preseason Team Selections
Lamar leads all teams with three preseason team selections. Senior forwards Brittney Williams and Darika Hill received first-team honors and junior guard Jenna Plumley was selected to the second-team.
Williams, a native of Spring, Texas, was selected second-team all-conference after starting all 31 games last season. She ranked 10th in scoring (12.0) and 14th in rebounds (6.0). Hill was named newcomer of the year and was a third-team all-conference selection. Hill, a native of New Iberia, La., ranked seventh in blocks (30), 11th in rebounds (7.1) and 15th in scoring (11.0). Plumley sat out the 2008-09 season after transferring from the University of Oklahoma. A native of Red Rock, Okla., Plumley started 41 games and averaged 6.5 points and 2.7 assists in 63 games played as a Sooner. As a sophomore in 2007-08, she stared all 31 games, handing out 107 assists and led Oklahoma in three-pointers made and attempted, knocking down 64-of-202 from behind the arc.
Southland Tournament Returns to Katy, Texas for Next Two Years
After two great tournaments in Katy, Texas, in 2008 and 2009, the Southland Conference has signed up for another two years, meaning the 2010 and 2011 Southland Conference tournaments will be played at the Leonard E. Merrell Center.
This year's tournament moves up one day and begins with the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, March 9. The semifinals and finals, which will be televised by the Southland Conference Television Network, will take place Wednesday, March 10 and the championship game will be played Friday, March 12 with a 7 p.m. tipoff.
This year's tournament will be the 11th in league history to be played at a neutral site. The tournament was played in Shreveport, La., from 1995-2001 and was held in Houston in 2007 before moving to Katy in 2008.