Feb. 19, 2005

Box Score

NACOGDOCHES - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjack basketball team's 21-point comeback over Southeastern Louisiana was erased off the books when the Lady Lions' Brooke Necaise hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to hand the Ladyjacks a 62-60 setback at the William R. Johnson Coliseum Saturday night. The SLU victory completed the season-sweep of SFA and dropped the Ladyjacks to 12-11 (.523) overall and 6-6 (.500) in Southland Conference play.

The Lady Lions opened the game on an 11-3 run, due in large part to the Ladyjacks missing 16 of their first 17 shots. Southeastern Louisiana extended its lead to as many as 21 points behind Dacia McGowan's 14 first-half points. She finished the game with 22 points.

Despite shooting only 7-of-29 (.241) from the floor and being out-rebounded, 31-19, the Ladyjacks were able to cut the Lady Lion lead down to 16 points at halftime on an Alex Bowman three-pointer only seconds before the final buzzer. Bowman would finish the game with a team-high 15 points.

Southeastern pushed its advantage to as many as 18 points in the second half before SFA mounted a rally. Led by junior Kendria Smith's 11 points and team-high six rebounds, the Ladyjacks rattled off a 19-2 run to trim the Lady Lion lead down to one, 46-45, with just under 10 minutes remaining.

The shooting woes that had troubled SFA in the first half were now causing problems for the Lady Lions as they went only 7-for-31 (.226) in the second half. The Ladyjacks were able to cut the Southeastern lead down to one point six times and despite the Lady Lions' second half shooting trouble, they were always able to find an answer.

It looked as if SFA was never going to be able to take the lead, but trailing by one, Bowman hit a jumper in the paint to give the Ladyjacks their first lead of the game, 60-59, with only 11 seconds remaining.

But SFA was denied victory as the Lady Lions ran the clock down to one second when Necaise release a three-pointer from the left wing that would prove to be the game-winner. She finished with eight points.

Senior Stacey Szymanski scored nine points, while classmate Jaliyla Muhammad and junior Britany Vinson added eight in the heart-breaking setback.

The Ladyjacks return to action Thursday when they host league-leading Texas-Arlington in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The game against the Lady Mavs is slated to tip-off at 6 p.m.

-SFA-