NACOGDOCHES, Texas –
Rachel Arthur's layup in the waning seconds of the first quarter cut the Huskies' deficit to one, but SFA hit a buzzer beater to end the frame up by three, then shot 77 percent from the floor in a 26-15 second quarter as the Ladyjacks went on to defeat HBU, 66-54, Saturday afternoon from Johnson Coliseum.
Heidi Sihvola led HBU (12-14 overall, 7-9 SLC) with a team-high 12 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Lisa Zderadicka followed with 11 points. Both she and Sihvola had two steals.
Monet Neal also dropped 11 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while
Amanda Johnson came off the bench to score 10 points and she tied her career high of five rebounds. As a team, HBU shot 38 percent from the floor in the game.
The two Taylors did the biggest damage for SFA (17-10, 11-5), as Taylor Schippers and Taylor Ross each had 14 points, six rebounds, and combined for seven assists and three steals. Brentney Branch came off the bench to score 10 points, while Adrienne Lewis pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. As a team, the Ladyjacks shot 45 percent from the floor.
HBU scored the game's first basket, but SFA jumped out to a 13-4 lead following a jumper by Schippers at the 3:53-mark of the opening quarter. HBU used an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to one, 15-14, highlighted by an and-one play by Neal and a Sihvola trey, but Ross hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the hosts a three-point advantage, 17-14.
Johnson's jumper brought HBU within two, 19-17, but the Ladyjacks went on a 9-0 run for a 28-17 lead and forcing HBU to take a timeout. The Huskies came out of the timeout with a Sihvola three-pointer and Arthur later scored a layup to cut the deficit to six, but SFA closed the half on a 13-5 run to lead, 43-29, at the break.
Sihvola led HBU with eight first-half points, while Ross was nearly perfect, with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. HBU shot 38 percent in the half compared to 68 percent for SFA.
Trailing by as many as 17 with 2:44 left in the third quarter, HBU closed the frame outscoring the Ladyjacks, 5-2, highlighted by an old fashioned three-point play by Johnson. The Huskies increased the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter, turning a 14-point deficit to seven in a three-minute span and forcing SFA to call a timeout. The Ladyjacks responded after the breather, closing the game outscoring HBU 5-0.
HBU plays its final two games at home, beginning with an ESPN3 tilt against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday, March 3 at 5 p.m. The Islanders lost to Sam Houston State earlier today and are one game behind the Huskies. HBU is tied for fifth place in the conference standings, while TAMUCC is tied for eighth.
