Stephen F. Austin
Abilene Christian
Ladyjacks Can't Keep Pace With Wildcats in 85-70 Defeat
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Abilene Christian 85, Stephen F. Austin 70
William R. Johnson Coliseum • Nacogdoches, Texas
Records: SFA (7-9, 1-4 SLC); ACU (14-2, 5-0 SLC)
Up Next: Lamar (6-11, 2-4 SLC) • Thursday, Jan. 21 • 7:00 p.m.
Box Score 
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team gave Abilene Christian everything it could handle on Saturday night, but the first place Wildcats pulled away in the fourth quarter to win 85-70 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.
Junior guard Taylor Ross had another big performance, scoring a game-high 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting. Her fifth 20-point game of the season came after only playing 25 minutes due to foul trouble. She fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Brentney Branch followed Ross with 15 points while making four triples on 4-for-7 shooting from deep. The hot-shooting night extends her streak of games with a made three to 15.
Branch started the fourth quarter with a jumper and LaNesha Middleton tacked on two free throws to put SFA up 58-56. From there it was all ACU as the Wildcats mounted a 25-7 run to build its largest lead, 81-65, and put the game away.
SFA dominated the glass all night long, outrebounding ACU 35-23, including an 18-7 difference in offensive boards. Freshman guard Kennedy Harris had a season-high six rebounds to tie junior center Adrienne Lewis for the team lead. Despite the overwhelming advantage, the Ladyjacks committed 26 turnovers and the Wildcats made them pay by way of a 33-14 surplus in points off giveaways.
Ross helped SFA establish an early lead and control the first quarter altogether. She scored the first five points for the Ladyjacks and had seven in the first 2:28 of the game to put her team ahead 9-2.
SFA spread the wealth the rest of the quarter as seven Ladyjacks scored to build a 22-14 advantage by the end of the period. The `Jacks forced six early turnovers and capitalized, outscoring the Wildcats 10-1 in points off turnovers.
ACU bounced back in the second quarter, winning the 10-minute window 21-12 to establish a 35-34 halftime cushion.
Like she did in the first quarter, Ross took command in the third. She scored the first five points for SFA as well as the final seven and registered 13 points overall in the frame. She cashed in a deep shot from the top of the key as time expired to move the `Jacks to within striking distance, down 56-54.
The SFA momentum fizzled out shortly into the final quarter when the Wildcats started to heat up from the field. ACU fired at an 80 percent clip in the last 10 minutes (8-for-10) to pull away. The visitors shot 58.3 percent for the game compared to SFA's 43.9 percent.
Senior guard Taylor Schippers scored 10 points with three assists and three steals. She made both of her three-point attempts to help SFA shoot 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from distance. Fellow senior Paulletta Powell chipped in seven points for the night.
The win is the 10th straight for Abilene Christian as it tightens its hold on first place in the Southland Conference.
The Ladyjacks will continue their current three-game homestand on Thursday night against Lamar. The game is set to start at 7:00 p.m. inside William R. Johnson Coliseum and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
-SFA-
