NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks used
a stifling defense and balanced scoring effort to run their winning streak to
four straight with a 61-51 victory over the Lamar Lady Cardinals Wednesday
evening at William R. Johnson Coliseum.
SFA (19-7, 9-4) limited Lamar (15-12, 7-6) to just 28
percent shooting, which included 2-of-10 from three-point territory.
Offensively, senior guard Tammara Marion led the Ladyjacks with 11 points while
five others scored six points or more.
The win for SFA also marked their first in six years
against the Lady Cardinals, having not beaten Lamar since the 2006-07 campaign.
The Lady Cardinals were led in scoring by the reigning
Southland Conference Player of the Week, Kalis Loyd, who scored a game-high 17
points but shot just 6-of-16 from the floor. Loyd was joined in double-digit
scoring by Carenn Baylor, who put in 14 points.
SFA's depth once again proved to be too much for their
opponent, winning the bench scoring battle 25-15. Courtney Conwright had one of
her better games since returning from injury with eight points as did Ashlee
Mells (8 points). Amina Sawyer flirted with back-to-back double-doubles,
finishing with seven points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes of action.
Neither team pulled away in the first half but SFA held
the lead for the final six and a half minutes of action following back-to-back
three-pointers from Marion and Mells. Marion scored eight of her 11 points in
the first half, which included a running jumper with 16 seconds remaining to
give the Ladyjacks a 30-25 lead going into halftime.
The Ladyjacks outscored Lamar 31-26 in the second half
and never saw their lead slip below seven points in the final 18 minutes of
play, extending it out all the way to 50-35 with seven minutes left to play.
SFA managed to win despite being outscored 28-16 in the
paint and allowing 20 offensive rebounds.
The Ladyjacks, who have three games left in the
conference season, will next travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday
for a battle with the Islanders at 2 p.m. That game can be heard on Q107.7 FM
with the pregame show starting at 1:45 p.m.
They will then return home for the final time this season
on Wednesday, Feb. 29 for a showdown with rival Sam Houston State on Senior
Night.
--SFA--
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