Jan. 8, 2004

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. - The Northwestern State Lady Demons jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never looked back as they beat Stephen F. Austin, 84-54, Thursday night at Prather Coliseum. The Ladyjacks fall to 0-11 overall and 0-1 in Southland Conference action.

The Lady Demons jumped out of the gate and took a 12-0 lead, sparked by two Amanda Bennett three-pointers. The Ladyjacks stopped the Northwestern State run when sophomore Kendria Smith scored a layup with15:37 remaining in the first half. But the Lady Demons responded by scoring 10 of the games next 12 points behind Bennett's 23 first-half points. Northwestern State pushed its advantage to 30 points and went into halftime leading, 47-17.

The Ladyjacks struggled offensively in the first half, shooting 7-of-31 (.226), and 1-of-11 (.091) from beyond the arc, while Northwestern State was 18-of-31 (.581).

SFA came out in the second half and scored the game's first six points riding the back of Smith's team-high 16 points but Northwestern State never cooled off from the floor, going 15-of-32 (.469) in the second half, extending their advantage to as many as 42 points in the second half.

Junior Stacey Szymanski scored 12 points on 5-of-9 (.556) shooting. She also grabbed six rebounds as the Ladyjacks out rebounded Northwestern State, 44-35. Freshman Nikki Carr had another solid game scoring seven points, pulling down eight rebounds, recording five steals and dishing out four assists.

The Ladyjacks return to action Thursday when they return to Nacogdoches, Texas to face McNeese State. The game is slated to tipoff at 8:15 p.m., from the William R. Johnson Coliseum.

-SFA-