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KATY, Texas – After missing last year’s Southland Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament, Sam Houston State has played like a team ready to spend the entire weekend at Merrell Center.
Shernise Robertson scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter while Angela Beadle added 15 points and 13 rebounds as the seventh-seeded Bearkats shocked third-seed Stephen F. Austin 78-70 Friday afternoon, giving Sam Houston State a Saturday afternoon date against two-time defending Tournament champion Northwestern State at 3:30 p.m., on ESPN3. The victory more than made up for the two regular season losses the Ladyjacks inflicted upon the Bearkats, including a 65-59 heartbreaker in Huntsville just six days earlier.
“I knew it was crunch time and my teammates needed me,” Robertson, who connected on all five of her attempts in the final quarter while playing all 40 minutes, said. The first-team all-conference selection also pulled down five rebounds and added three assists for Sam Houston State (13-17), which reached the semifinal for the first time since playing in the championship game in 2013.
“As the second half came along, I thought the tides were shifting a little bit,” Sam Houston State Coach Brenda Welch-Nichols said, “but I’ll tell you what: these girls...they’re hungry, and they’ve been hungry. They have come together and they’re just excited. This is a huge win for our school.”
The Bearkats led by as many as 15 points late in the first half and withstood the expected surge from Stephen F. Austin (18-12), which stormed out of the locker room and opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run which brought the Ladyjacks within 41-38 at the 7:41 mark. After shooting just 31 percent in the first half, SFA seized the lead when first-team all-conference selection Taylor Ross knocked down a jumper to give the Ladyjacks a 44-43 edge with 3:57 remaining in the quarter, but the Bearkats took the lead for good when Robertson drilled a 3-pointer to snap a 46-all tie and help Sam Houston State enter the fourth quarter with a 55-49 lead.
SFA appeared to have run out of steam when Bearkats freshman Kamry Orr’s jumper extended the Sam Houston State advantage to 67-57 near the midway point of the fourth quarter, but the Ladyjacks duo of Ross (32 points) and Taylor Schippers (20 points) combined to score the next 11 points to draw them within 72-68 with 2:03 remaining.
“My first half was kind of bad,” said Ross, who added three rebounds and two assists, “so I was kinda like ‘I need to make more shots and pick it up.’”
Despite the efforts of Ross and Schippers, the Bearkats finally put the game away when baskets from Orr and Beadle gave Sam Houston State enough of a cushion to breathe easy.
The Bearkats were able to take advantage of the foul trouble the Ladyjacks found themselves in early on, as they outrebounded SFA by a 42-27 margin. Jasmine McCants, who had 11 rebounds in the opening round win over Nicholls, added 10 more boards, while Orr also chipped in nine rebounds to go along with her 17 points.
“She (McCants) has really stepped up,” said Welch-Nichols.
Sam Houston State shot 49 percent from the field, but saved their best work at the free throw line, where they shot 79 percent from the charity stripe (23 for 29).
“Robertson and Beadle are special, but they scored against us when we beat them twice. The other kids got going,” said SFA coach Mark Kellogg.
Northwestern State handed Sam Houston State a 69-49 defeat in the only regular-season meeting between the two on January 4.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
Sam Houston State Head Coach Brenda Welch-Nichols
On today’s game…
“What a beautiful way to end this game. As the second half progressed, I really thought the tides were shifting, but I kept asking Shernise Robertson if she needed a break and she kept telling me I wasn’t taking her out of the game. These girls are hungry and they’ve been hungry. They’ve come together and they’re excited. This is a huge win for our school. Anytime we can beat Stephen F. Austin, it seals the deal with my Athletic Director and makes him happy. I’m very excited for Angela Beadle. At the end of the game, we leaned towards each other and said ‘way overdue’. There’s a lot this game means to us. First, it’s a rivalry. Second, we advance to the semifinals. This team works hard. We’re excited right now.”
On rebounding…
“Kamry Orr is a big right now; she had nine rebounds. Angela Beadle did a tremendous job. Like I’ve said along, these seniors have put everyone on their backs. I’m very impressed with her. I’m also very excited about Jasmine McCants. She has really stepped up and came ready to play. When Beadle stepped out, I saw a change shift in our guards that they needed to take control of the game. This is a team effort. We had four people in double figures, and three close to double figures in rebounds. I’m ecstatic about what this team is doing as a team.”
Sam Houston State Senior Guard Shernise Robertson
On offensive aggression in the fourth quarter…
“I knew the game was in crunch time and my team needed me. I knew we needed a basket so I got the ball in my hands.”
On advancing to the semifinals…
“This is just wonderful. I love the atmosphere. Beadle and my other teammates who have been here before made it that much better. I’m just happy that we’re in this position. Like our coach said, getting a win over our rival school is great. It’s not over, we still have games to finish.”
Sam Houston State Freshman Guard Kamry Orr
On the team’s determination…
“We knew SFA wasn’t going to lay down. We had to stay composed and hold the lead and that’s what we did.”
Stephen F. Austin Head Coach Mark Kellogg
On missed opportunities…
“We scored the first seven to eight points starting the second half. We even took the lead with three or four minutes to go in the third quarter. I thought we were right in the game and we needed to settle down and play. We had opportunities and offensive rebounds and a potential put-back that, if it goes, it would have been a two-point game with under two minutes to go. We put our subs in a position to win but we also didn’t quite do enough.”
Stephen F. Austin Senior Guard Taylor Schippers
On offensive struggles…
“I think it had a little bit to do with nerves. We were missing lay ups that we usually make, and jumpers. We just couldn’t get anything going. Foul trouble obviously got to us in the first half and I think it took us out of our rhythm a little bit.”
Stephen F. Austin Junior Guard Taylor Ross
On second half comeback…
“The first half was kind of bad so I [was thinking] I need to pick it up, start hitting more shots, or, if I’m not hitting shots, I need to get my teammates open. I was driving, I was going hard and they just fell.”