Women's Basketball: Jan. 15 Scoreboard
Stephen F. Austin 76, New Orleans 56
Houston Baptist 58, Central Arkansas 37
Nicholls 67, Sam Houston State 64
Lamar 83, Southeastern Louisiana 60
Stephen F. Austin 76, New Orleans 56
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin women’s basketball team went on a 22-2 run early in the second half and never looked back en route to a convincing 76-56 victory over New Orleans on Thursday night in William R. Johnson Coliseum. The Ladyjackshave won eight straight games at home and own a three-game winning streak overall.
The Ladyjacks (10-5, 3-1 SLC) got a balanced attack on the offensive end as Porsha Roberts (15), Paulletta Powell (13), Tierany Henderson (11) and Brentney Branch (11) all scored in double figures on the night. Roberts also secured 12 rebounds, including five offensive boards, to pick up her seventh double-double of the year. She went 6-for-10 from the field and led SFA with two steals.
In her second career start, Powell’s 13 points set a career-high mark. The junior knocked down three triples and went 4-for-8 from the field. Henderson and Branch also connected on three shots from beyond the arc to help SFA match a season-high with 12 threes as a team.
The Privateers (2-11, 0-4 SLC) held the lead for just 19 seconds on the evening – a 2-0 advantage after Alexis Martin hit the first shot 20 seconds in – but managed to hang around over the course of the opening frame. UNO trailed 35-29 at the break and another jumper by Martin to open the second period cut the SFA lead to 35-31 with 19:54 to play.
But the Ladyjacks were just heating up.
Henderson drilled back-to-back threes within a 44-second span to ignite a 22-2 spurt over a five-minute window early on in the second half. Powell also dumped in a pair of three-pointers over the stretch, including a deep look from the wing to cap the run and give SFA its largest lead of the game at 57-33. The 24-point cushion at the 14:49 mark proved to be more than enough for the Ladyjacks to cruise to the 20-point victory.
Senior Brittney Matthew and sophomore Taylor Ross led the SFA backcourt, dishing out 10 assists while turning the ball over just three times combined. Matthew added nine points and Ross chipped in six.
Sophomore center Adrienne Lewis matched a career-high with eight points off the bench for the Ladyjacks.
Defensively, SFA limited UNO to 33.3 percent shooting in the contest and forced 17 turnovers. Roberts and Henderson each swatted two shots to help the Ladyjacks outblock the Privateers 5-0. Freshman Charisma Alexander provided the other denial.
SFA will go for its fourth win in a row when the team travels to play Abilene Christian on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. inside Moody Coliseum.
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Houston Baptist 58, Central Arkansas 37
HOUSTON, Texas – Houston Baptist used a stifling defense and a monster game from senior forward Shanice Steenholdt to defeat visiting Central Arkansas, 58-37, Thursday night from Sharp Gym.
The win not only snapped the Huskies’ five-game losing streak on the season, but also halted a four-game winning streak for UCA in the season series. HBU won the series opener, 66-61, Dec. 29, 2008 in Houston before the Sugar Bears won four straight, including two games last season.
The 37 points are the lowest allowed by the Huskies since giving up 36 points to Huston-Tillotson last month. The 28 percent shooting (11-of-40) was the second-lowest on the season allowed by the Huskies and the lowest against a Division I opponent.
Steenholdt led the way for HBU (7-9 overall, 1-4 SLC), as she registered game highs of 25 points, 12 rebounds, and five blocks, while tying the game high of three assists and two steals. She shot 9-of-22 from the floor and made all seven free throw attempts. Anna Strickland nearly earned a double-double, as she finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Tayler Jefferson came off the bench to score seven points.
Brianna Mullins led UCA (9-8 overall, 2-3 SLC) with 11 points, while Maggie Proffitt added nine. Jameka Watkins was the top rebounder with four.
UCA did not score a field goal until the 12:15-mark of the opening half, as Brittany Agee’s jumper made the score 6-3 in favor of HBU.
The Sugar Bears came as close as two, 15-13, before HBU used a 13-3 run in the final 6:58 of the first half to lead UCA by 12 at halftime, 28-16.
Steenholdt nearly had a double-double at halftime, as she led all players with 13 points and eight rebounds. Strickland had six points and seven boards. Watts led the Sugar Bears with five points. HBU shot 37 percent from the floor, compared to 27 percent for UCA.
UCA started the second half scoring four points and forcing an HBU turnover, prompting the Huskies to take an early timeout with the Huskies leading, 28-20, with 18:52 remaining in regulation.
The timeout worked wonders, as HBU used a 20-8 run in the next nine minutes to lead by 20, 48-28, with 9:29 to go in the game.
Proffitt tried to stop the bleeding and get UCA back into the game with a three-pointer at the top of the key to cut the deficit to 17, 50-33, but HBU scored six-straight points to take its largest lead of the game ,56-33, with six minutes to go. HBU never trailed by more than 19 the rest of the way.
Steenholdt scored 12 second-half points and pulled down four rebounds to lead all players. Monet Neal came off the bench to score six points. The Huskies shot 48 percent in the half and 42 percent for the game. Mullins led the Sugar Bears with seven points, followed by Proffitt with six. UCA shot 28 percent in the half and in the contest.
HBU hosts New Orleans Saturday, Jan. 17 at 4 pm.
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Nicholls 67, Sam Houston State 64
THIBODAUX, La. – Despite the Nicholls State University women’s basketball team leading Sam Houston State for almost the entire duration of the game, the outcome came down to the wire as the Colonels came through with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to hang on for a 67-64 victory over the Bearkats on Thursday night at Stopher Gym.
The win was the Colonels’ third straight, improving their record to 7-8 on the year and more importantly, 3-1 in Southland play. It also snapped a six-game losing streak in the series against Sam Houston (3-12, 2-3 SLC), which was the Colonels’ longest against any league opponent.
Nicholls had three players finish in double figures in scoring, led by Jenny Nash and Ekiya Gray with 15 points each. Shay Arnick added 11 points, all in the first half, while Gray scored all 15 of hers in the final period.
Thanks in part to a 10-0 lead to start the game; Nicholls cruised to a 33-28 advantage at the break. But Sam Houston flipped the script to open the second half, using an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game. With the help of Gray and Nash, Nicholls countered with another 10-0 spurt to regain the lead and never trailed again in the contest. Gray started the run with a putback and added another one between a pair of Nash 3-pointers which put the score at 43-36 Colonels.
But Sam Houston did not go away quietly, due mostly to an offensive outpour from Shernise Robertson, who had a game-high 31 points. The Bearkats tied the game four times in the second half, with the final coming at 57-all with less than six minutes remaining.
Leading by one, Nicholls took a 61-58 lead after Veronica Ryan, who led the Colonels with five assists, cut through the defense and made a nice pass inside to Gray for a layup. Gray then added two free throws to make the score 63-58 with three minutes left before Sam Houston answered with four points to come within one.
With 25 seconds remaining, Nash connected on a pair at the line to push the lead to 65-62. On the next possession, Robertson drew a foul on a 3-pointer with 12 ticks remaining on the clock, but missed on the second attempt to keep the Colonel lead at one.
Gray then calmly sank two free throws with 11 seconds on the clock for a 67-64 Colonel lead and Robertson’s last-second 3-pointer from the left wing was off the mark as the horn sounded, giving Nicholls its fourth win at home this season.
Although Nicholls shot 37 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the arc, the team combined for a 77.8 percent mark at the free throw line, making 14 of 18. Sam Houston shot 43 percent from the field, but made an abysmal 14 of 29 at the charity stripe.
Nash hauled in seven boards as Nicholls outrebounded Sam Houston, 45-34. The Colonels had 17 offensive rebounds, leading to 12 second chance points.
Nicholls will host a women’s/men’s doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 17, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The women will go for their fourth consecutive win, with tipoff scheduled for 1 p.m.
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Lamar 83, Southeastern Louisiana 60
BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar Lady Cardinals celebrated the 30th anniversary of the first women’s basketball game at the Montagne in grand style Thursday, rolling to an 83-60 win over visiting Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference action.
Lamar (7-9 overall, 4-1 Southland) had five players score in double figures, led by Baileigh O’Dell with 18 points. Dominique Edwards had her second consecutive double-double, and sixth of the season, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lady Cardinals never trailed in this one. Lamar scored the first six points of the game and never looked back. With the win, Lamar improved to 227-143 all-time at the Montagne Center dating back to that first game, a 63-60 win over Nicholls on Jan. 14, 1985.
O’Dell had 13 points in the first half to lead Lamar, as the Cardinals took a 37-28 lead into intermission. The Lady Lions (6-9, 2-2) never got closer than 10 points in the second half.
The Lady Cardinals outscored Southeastern Louisiana 30-12 in points off turnovers, capitalizing on 23
Lamar also dominated the paint, outscoring Southeastern Louisiana 46-22 in that area. The Lady Cardinals also held a 39-34 rebounding edge.
Addesha Collins had points for Lamar, JaMeisha Edwards had 11 points and Kiandra Bowers added 10 points. Shauna Long just missed out on joining the double-digit club, finishing with nine points.
The Lady Cardinals shot 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from the field, while holding Southeastern Louisiana to 38.2 percent (21-of-55).
Peaches Anderson led Southeastern Louisiana with 18 points, while Jameika Hoskins had 10 points in the loss.
The Lady Cardinals don’t have much time to savor the win, however. Lamar heads to Northwestern State for a showdown with the conference-leading Lady Demons (5-0 SLC) at 1 p.m. Saturday. That game will be broadcast live on www.LamarCardinals.com.
Lamar’s next home game is 7 p.m. Jan. 22 against Stephen F. Austin.
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