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KATY, Texas – Stephen F. Austin head coach Mark Kellogg loves to stress that his Ladyjacks are more than just Southland Women’s Player of the Year Taylor Ross.
On Saturday, his words were put to the test – and it’s one his team passed to secure its place in Sunday’s tournament title game.
The third-seeded Ladyjacks delivered a total team effort in a 62-48 win over second-seed Lamar at the Merrell Center, putting SFA (25-6) into the championship game against defending tournament champion and top seed Central Arkansas. The noon tip-off will be televised on CBS Sports Network, with the winner gaining an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
SFA will be bidding for the program’s 16th Southland Conference Women’s Tournament title, with the most recent coming in 2005.
“We just found a way offensively,” said Kellogg.
Limited to just 20 minutes due to foul trouble, Ross finished with 20 points and returned to the court late in the period to score eight straight points between the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to help the Ladyjacks to a 50-34 lead with 7:58 remaining.
Much of the offensive slack fell on Third Team All-Conference forward Stevi Parker, who responded with her second straight double-double, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds. SFA also received a solid contribution from center Adrienne Lewis and her 10 points and seven boards.
“Without Taylor, we had to let the game come to us and just be patient,” said Parker, whose basket with 3:14 left helped the Ladyjacks pull away.
Although Lamar (22-7) would get as close as 52-44 at the 4:52 mark, the Cardinals were never able to find an offensive stride despite shooting 22 more attempts (69) than the Ladyjacks. Lamar shot just 23.2 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers.
“Our kids didn’t step up today to be that prime-time player,” said Lamar coach Robin Harmony. “You can’t win games against a big-time opponent when you shoot 23 percent. We had the shots, but we just didn’t put them down.”
The Cards had a 22-9 edge in offensive rebounds, but were still outscored in the paint by a 36-18 margin.
“I really loved our defensive effort tonight,” said Kellogg. “They got us on the offensive boards, but we controlled it enough and didn’t allow as many second chance points as we could have.”
A tight game swung in favor of SFA in a span of 19 seconds near the end of the first half. Tied at 26, the Ladyjacks took the lead for good when Lewis drove in for a layup 28 seconds before intermission.
On Lamar’s ensuing possession, Taylor Jackson stripped the ball from Bre’Osha Scott and went the distance for a basket that allowed SFA to seize a 30-26 margin at the break.
“Huge,” said Kellogg of the decisive swing. “In a game like that, a two-point, a four-point run feels way bigger than what it is, so for us to go up four at the half felt like much, much more than that.”
Lamar appeared unable to bounce back from the sudden misfortune. The Cardinals shot just 20 percent in the third quarter (3 for 15) and fell behind 42-31 on a three-point play from Alaysia Ready with 2:34 left, a deficit that reached 46-31 before DeJa Roberts’ triple inched them to within 46-34 at the start of the fourth.
“There wasn’t really anyone who stepped up and stopped the bleeding for us today,” said Harmony.
“To hold that team to 48 points with all the offensive firepower they have is pretty impressive,” said Kellogg.
The Ladyjacks will need a similar effort to stop a Central Arkansas team that defeated them in both regular-season games. SFA lost 67-63 at home on Jan. 25, and fell to the Sugar Bears on the road in a 70-58 setback on Feb. 25.